Industry
Interview
Automobile
sales executive creates cards targeting youth in anti-smoking campaign
Aug.
5, 2006
Joseph
DiPietro conceived his Tobacco Bad Kids project six years ago as
a public service. Outside factors, namely financing, intervened,
and DiPietro shelved his work until earlier this year.
TBKusa,
DiPietro's non-profit firm, has published a second version of his
original 21-card Tobacco Bad Kids and is distributing them
through selected grade schools throughout the country. The cards
are also available to non-sport collectors through DiPietro's Web
site. The Hobbyist discussed this worthwhile public service
with its creator recently.
Q:
What was the genesis of Tobacco Bad Kids?
DiPietro:
In 1999, my father was diagnosed with emphysema, developing it
after years of cigarette smoking. His diagnosis really hit home,
and it eventually caused me to stop smoking as well. Quitting was
one of the hardest things I'd ever done. Even after years of not
smoking, I sometimes struggle with my nicotine addiction; the times
after meals and long drives are the toughest.
In
my effort to stop smoking, I researched the dangers of tobacco and
compiled several hundred facts and documented them. Also, I
created characters with funny names and used a computer program, but
believe me, I'm no artist. I had always been a fan of Garbage
Pail Kids, and I decided to make my characters in the GPK
style. I came up with 22 characters and would give my version of Garbage
Pail Kids to my nieces and nephews in trying to teach them what I'd
learned. They loved them, and it was then I decided to make a real
trading card line--Tobacco Bad Kids.
Q:
What were your first steps in actualizing Tobacco Bad Kids?
DiPietro:
In 2000, I hired an attorney to copyright the TBK name.
I also hired Allison Smith of Amos Ink to turn the concept into
something I could actually publish. She brought my Tobacco Bad
Kids to life by adding diversity and color.
I
produced 16,000 cards and sold approximately 2,000 to 3,000 of them
through my Web site. I called the first series Introductory,
and ran an ad in Non-Sport Update magazine, but I really
didn't have enough money to market the cards properly. The next
year I decided to put TBK on hold. I was getting married and
buying a home. The cost of doing business was overwhelming.
Q:
What was your sales success with the Introductory Series?
DiPietro:
I sold roughly 400 packs and I gave another 100 away. Didn't
do too much with the full sets, I would say I may have sold 20 full
sets, if that. I did sell quite a few packs through my Web site
and I also sold items to a school in Wilmington, Mass.
Unfortunately,
most of the Introductory Series was ruined from a water leak in my basement, but I managed to salvage some from being completely
damaged. It was upsetting when it happened, and considering my
financial situation at the time, I decided to stop selling the
cards. I cancelled the Web site and worked on my career.
Q:
When did you begin thinking of relaunching TBK?
DiPietro:
In February 2006 I came up with a marketing game plan. I trademarked the
TBK
name and added tobacco facts to the backs of the cards. (The Intro
series had a TBK emblem on the backs.) I printed 156,000
cards and have already sold over 2,000. I've been mailing samples
to schools and built a MySpace to help market TBK.
In
April, I filed for non-profit status with the state of Massachusetts and
now qualify for federal grants. Our mission is to prevent children
from using tobacco by 25 percent in the next five years. I have
developed over 300 character concepts and I plan on advertising the
Educational Series once the school year starts in September.
Q:
Could you describe your non-profit status and what methods you went
through to obtain it?
DiPietro:
We're registered as a non-profit organization in Massachusetts and
have also filed with the IRS. It was an extremely challenging
process to learn, but without the non-profit status we wouldn't qualify
for federal grants. I had to create the Articles of Origination, a
board of directors, a conflict of interest policy and specific bylaws
for the organization. I spent many hours of reading to understand
everything. I've personally loaned the corporation approximately
$35,000 for startup costs and will be reimbursed in the next five
years. The costs are mainly legal fees, art work and actual
production of the cards and t-shirts.
Q:
While you were doing you incorporation work, you had to find an outlet
to actually print the cards. Is there anything in your
professional background that aided you in this?
DiPietro:
I have no previous knowledge of the trading card making
process. It was very difficult to start. I had a horrible
time finding a printer. I managed to find one through my
artist. She referred me to a company via a contact she has through
Sports Illustrated. The company is located 20 minutes from
my office. They also have a plant in North Carolina where they
will be printing our wrappers and packaging the cards in the future.
Q:
What is your current occupation and has it helped you in any way in
developing Tobacco Bad Kids?
DiPietro:
I work for Herb Chambers Companies in Danvers, Mass. I've worked
for Mr. Chambers as a finance director for three automobile dealerships
since 1998. I have 80 employees, mostly salespeople and business
managers. I work about 70 hours a week and do TBK in my spare
time.
My
job doesn't help me much in the creative department, although I've met
customers that helped me in creative ways. One TBK card,
Voice Box Barry, was sparked by a client who purchased an automobile
from us who had to use an instrument to make a computer-type
voice. I asked him why he needed this machine and he said he'd
gotten cancer from smoking. (Yet, he had a pack of cigarettes in
his pocket.)
Q:
Does your new set contain any new characters? Have you made any
changes in the art work or designs?
DiPietro:
The new set is comprised of the same 21 characters as the Intro
Series. I did get some criticism from different people about
putting tobacco facts on the backs. I thought the facts were a
nice addition, and I included them when I decided to bring TBK
back to life.
Q:
How do you intend to distribute the cards?
DiPietro:
I plan on advertising in California first. I've been getting
attention from the school programs there, and the state has a huge
budget for youth anti-tobacco education. I stumbled upon a list of
clients on a death card Web site and contacted every customer on the
list. The list consisted of schools, tobacco control programs and
lung associations. I sent out samples to 20 different schools and
programs.
I
received an email from Breathe California in Daly City a
week after contacting them. They loved the cards and wanted to
know how to purchase them. I sold 100 packs and offered a 50
percent discount. I offer a 50 percent discount to all youth
programs to help their prevention efforts and aid promoting our
products. I followed up with 19 prospects and sold 200 more packs
to another Breathe California program in San Jose. I also have
commitments from several other schools when the (fall) year starts.
We've
also sold our products to a youth tobacco education program in Amman,
Jordan.
Q:
Apart from the TBK card series, you've produced illustrated
t-shirts. Why?
DiPietro:
I thought it would be a good fit with the cards. The shirts
would help create awareness and at the same time generate revenue.
I like the the t-shirts because it reminds adults how stupid it is to
use tobacco. We've managed to get several people to quit smoking
with our products, something I wasn't expecting. Our goal is to
reduce youth tobacco use, and it seems we're reaching adults, too.
Finally,
you've created a Web site from scratch. Perhaps you could talk
about how you developed it.
DiPietro:
Ahh, the Web site. That was the most difficult part of it
all. I purchased the software program Dreamweaver and spent hours
upon hours of torture learning how to build a Web site. I not only
had to build the site, but had to build the e-commerce part also.
I've tried to make the TBKusa.com site as user friendly as possible so
that children could navigate it easily.
I
am still looking to add some enhancements for the the site in the
future. I would like to add anti-tobacco arcade type games and
some more animation and sound. I did manage to include a page on
Dead Presidents (those who used tobacco) and also a Famous Victims page
that seems to generate traffic to the site.
As
we grow I intend on making a Pac-Man type game for the Web site where
you are chased by smokers in a maze. You would need to get the
nicotine patch in the corners of the maze to turn the killer smokers
into non-smokers. I also have plans for other types of games to
encourage children to visit the site and enjoy TBK.
*****
Previous
interviews:
Dart
Flipcards World president Dino Frisella
Show
promoter Paul Maiellaro
Wrapper publisher Les Davis
Inkworks president Allan Caplan
