A lot of people ask me why I'm so hard on American "snus" products. I seem to get that in email, Facebook, or YouTube comments on a regular basis. Why can't I just be positive about these bastardized knock-off products? After all, they are getting "snus" into America. Right? Well, no. I wrote up a little analogy, see if this sheds any light on why I'm so hard on these American products.
A man lives in Australia for a few years. He grows to love Anzac Biscuits. He has them every day and develops a deep appreciation for what they are, trying many different types, recipes, eventually settling on a few that he really likes. It is an authentic Australian dish. He comes to America and searches high and low for Anzac Biscuits, but it just isn't a common thing. Eventually - one day, he finds some in a store. He jumps up and down with delight! 
But he finds that these biscuits are made for Americans with the "Anzac" name to make them sound extra fancy-schmancy. He opens the package and finds them covered in icing, sugar, sprinkles, and all kinds of things. He takes a bite and finds them STUFFED WITH PURE SUGAR to make them taste even more sweet. To add insult to injury the package says "Anzac Biscuits - straight from Australia! We took the original and perfected them!"Anzac Biscuits start to catch on, more and more people start to like them, but they never come close to meeting the mark of the originals he grew to love and appreciate in Australia. Anzac Biscuits are now everywhere, even cheaper than importing or making his own. But it's just not the same. Despite the fact that something is easier to get and is quickly becoming a household name doesn't give him the food that he loves most, it just gives him something disgusting with the same name. Sure, more people know about Anzac Biscuits and MAYBE, just MAYBE someday people may get it right, but the odds of that happening are slim to nil. After all - the current Anzac Biscuits in America are being pushed as one thing - and people are falling in love with them! Why change that? Why make something less sweet that's more true to the original recipe? The people are loving the over sweetened version!
Despite the fact that he can now access his favorite food cheaper, and without having to mess with importing it or making his own - it is getting what he loves to his mouth. It's simply pouring salt in his wound - he can't get what he loves any easier, and now he has this terrible bastardized product as a knock off that people are growing to love because it's geered towards American taste. He doesn't have an American taste in mind, his tastes are more refined, he doesn't enjoy food that is "way too sweet", he likes things the way he likes them, it's what he is accustomed to. And now, as the bastardization continues to grow, he sees that he will never truly have the product he loves, only a knock off.
And that is why I'm so hard on these products.
Your analogy is pretty good, but taste isn't the reason I ordered a roll of real snus. It's more of a secondary thing actually, because tastes can be acquired and I am (like your analogy) an American and the American "snus" is geared towards my taste anyway. The thing that concerns me is Big Tobacco. You mentioned this on your website and it's true; Big Tobacco is not required to disclose what they are putting in their products, and they probably would as long as they had nothing to hide. I think the Swedes got it right when they decided to regulate snus as a food product. From what I read, the Swedish snus has more flavor anyway, but in my opinion the health benefits trump any taste contest.
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