Launched in April of 2020, Victms1975.com was created by famed cigar artist – Jessi Flores, aka Jessi “Victms” Flores, to raise cancer awareness and to offer for sale his creative art talent to his many followers.
In the original press release Jessie noted:
“Launching my own brand has been a life-long dream for me. Victms 1975 by Jessi Flores has been in the works for a minute. I’ve taken everything my fans have asked for and tried to deliver it as best I can.
Everyone knows that it’s been a hard year for me personally because of my daughter’s pending surgery, so a lot of my finances and energy went into her. I had to overcome so many setbacks to make this happen because, of course, my daughter’s health is, and will always be a priority. However, I felt that through this process my daughter inspired me to follow my dreams without asking for permission. At the end of the day, you only get one life and I feel like you should do what feels right”
The site, although designed with great intent, had a plethora of items for sale, some of these items proved to be too “edgy” for the consumer and the offering needed to be better organized. Jessi himself recognized that and in his own words, declared:
“…The cigar community is more conservative, so I need to cater to that. I also eliminated the propain line. The Phuck Cancer line has a bunch of new designs. All the proceeds of the Phuck Cancer line are for the treatment of my daughter Stephanie.
I started messing around with a new website to make it more efficient. The new website is cleaner, more aesthetic, more catered to the cigar smokers. With more than 30 new designs. Not limited to cigars only, but there is also beer art. Lovers of cigars and beers will love it.”
Jessi made the decision to redesign the Victms1975 website and today he announced the new design in addition to some changes in his team. The new site scaled back on the edginess and added a more appropriate line and a new supply chain. Jessi not only redesigned the website, but also brought on a new Operations Director and site manager.
To accomplish this, Jessi took down the site in the month of September to do the top-down redesign. He did note that any orders placed before he took the site offline are still being processed.
If you are Military, First Responder, or Veteran, the site now has a discount code HEROES20 you will receive 20% off your total order.
The new site focuses on:
- New Supply Chain – to quickly respond to customer orders
- Phuck Cancer – a focused mission to raise funds to care for Jessi’s seriously ill daughter and other child cancer patients in Nicaragua
- New Operations Director – to take the website operational burden off Jessi and allow him the time to be the creative artist he is
- Fellow Artist Neal Wollenberg – artist and cigar enthusiast Neal Wollenberg donated designs for the Phuck Cancer line as well.
New supply chain
On the old website, Flores offered all kinds of t-shirts, mugs, masks, and more swag with cigar-related artwork. The supplier of the masks could not keep up with the demand and failed to deliver some orders. Flores refunded everybody and offered discount codes to those affected. With the new supply chain, orders for the international markets are faster than before.
Phuck Cancer
Flores’ 20-year-old daughter, Stephanie Nicole, is seriously ill with cancer and requires surgery. The doctors in Nicaragua have told Jessi and his family that as a precautionary measure, Nicole needs to have three small and one large tumor removed from her left kidney. If these tumors are not removed, the doctors told Jessi, his daughter will most likely not endure the chemotherapy, should those tumors spread into cancerous cells.
To further complicate the issue Sephanie Nicole has a condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot which means she was born with two holes in her heart. Even more complicated is that she has a condition known hypocalcemia. This a serious illness where her bones are separating from her spinal cord, wrists, elbows, and knees due to blood deficiency. Lastly, she has kidney stones, which may not sound like a severe condition but with the upcoming procedure, it’s a risky addition to Stephanie Nicole’s issues.
All the proceeds of the Phuck Cancer series will go towards her surgery and recovery in addition to other child cancer patients in Nicaragua that need financial help
The Phuck Cancer campaign is for those that we have lost and/or are fighting their final battle for their lives. Phuck Cancer campaign says in many ways that we have won and we are still fighting, As a father, Jessi did not know about the impact this life threatening disease had to one’s life and that of our loved ones. The Phuck Cancer design is a way of bringing hope and light to everyone in the battle.
Each item in this campaign is designed with thoughts of enlightening the path to see the Phuck Cancer logo around the world and know of the importance of the journey. Every item on this collection has been designed with love and care for everyone to share the story of a lost family member or a survivor.
New Operation Director
Jessi recruited Hawaiian based cigar enthusiast Chris Duque as his new Director of Operations and Customer Relations. Chris is also involved in marketing the website. Regarding his new role to assist Jessi, Duque noted:
“Jessi is the creative and artistic mastermind at the helm whose mission is to create original and entertaining artwork. My role is to make sure that the online store runs smoothly as possible and be ready to put our fires if and when they arise. Braddah Jessi and I have one priority when comes to the business and that is customer service is paramount.”
More Artistic Talent
Around 2008-2010 Jessi met brother Neal Wollenberg online as a fellow artist and brother of the leaf. The two artists had immediate respect for the mad skillz each had and how much they inspired each other.
Jessi explains their friendship:
“One of the first designs that made our friendship was Dirty Rat. He had painted a tiny mouse looking up at a naked attractive woman she was looking down on and really captured the attention of a lot of smokers and art fans. We have stayed in contact over the years till recently brother Neal reached out to me after hearing the sad news of my daughter diagnosed with cancerous tumors in her kidney. ‘
It was at the moment their lives as fathers and providers forged a deeper friendship and they began talking about collaborating to bring awareness to Stephanie’s cause. Jessi recalls what Neal said:
“Brother, I want all my designs to go toward helping your daughter, it’s the right thing to do.”
Here is some of Neal’s work that you can purchase on the updated site:
Jessi and Neal agreed to work together to support the fight for his daughter. It was a collaboration forged from brotherhood as fathers and artistic designers to a good cause. Feeling that many cigar enthusiasts do their pairing with beers and cigars, Jessi added Neal’s designs, which consist of tobacco and beer related products to the revamped website. Jessi noted that he and Neal agreed that 100% of sales go to Phuck Cancer campaign
As Jessi exclaimed:
“The art renaissance collaboration with Neal is a breakthrough for artists to join together to help another family member in time of need.“
Help A Brother Out
If you enjoy art, especially cigar and beer art, visit the newly revamped Victms1975.com website and order some product. Your support will help tremendously and maybe we as a community can give Stephanie Nicole along with other cancer patients in Nicaragua hope and a better future.