History Main / ItsCuban

-->-- '''{{Series/Seinfeld}}''', "The English Patient"

->'''Jerry:''' They're real Cubans?! They're human beings, from Cuba?!
->'''Kramer:''' I said Cubans. What'd you think I meant?
->'''Jerry:''' Cigars!
->'''Kramer:''' Jerry, Cuban cigars are illegal in this country. That's why I got these guys.

In American media, Cuban cigars, which were banned in the United States after Fidel Castro seized Cuba in 1959 (an embargo that was only lifted in 2016), have generally been considered items that cannot be acquired without the right connections and/or money. Therefore for a character to offer or have a Cuban cigar is usually used as shorthand for having one or both. Because of the reasons why Cuban cigars had that status in the first place, there is usually also a sense of nefariousness added to whoever has or offers the cigars in question.

* Subverted in an episode of ''SeriesHogansHeroes'' when Klink tries to butter up the visiting General Burkhalter by offering a tray of delicacies from across German-occupied Europe. Burkhalter takes one of Klink's cigars, sniffs it, and sours in disgust. Klink apologizes and says it's a ''German'' cigar, and Burkhalter muses that they should've invaded Cuba.

See also GoodSmokingEvilSmoking.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' when Ted gets upset by Barnie smoking a cigar in his car, Barnie mentions that it is a cuban cigar and that people pay to make their cars smell like them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'', which is set in the notoriously destitute Soviet Union, a character's possession of Cuban cigars is one of many clues that he's corrupt. This in spite of how the U.S.S.R. was a close ally of Cuba and never imposed any trade embargo against them; Cuban cigars would have been the kind of luxury a Soviet bigwig would be ''most'' likely to possess.

* In ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'', which is set in the notoriously destitute Soviet Union, a character's possession of Cuban cigars is one of many clues that he's corrupt.

* In the megacrossover event ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'', the Joker sold his soul to Neron for a box of cigars. When mocked by Circe for selling his soul at such a low price, he defended himself by invoking this trope.

In American media, Cuban cigars, which until 2016 were banned in the United States after Fidel Castro seized Cuba in 1959, have generally been considered items that cannot be acquired without the right connections and/or money. Therefore for a character to offer or have a Cuban cigar is usually used as shorthand for having one or both. Because of the reasons why Cuban cigars had that status in the first place, there is usually also a sense of nefariousness added to whoever has or offers the cigars in question.

The current political situation is not ''quite'' a TropeBreaker just yet, but it does greatly diminish the significance of a character possessing Cuban cigars, since all that's needed to get them now is a passport. Do note that while restrictions against importation have been relaxed to the point that quantities can be purchased from outside the US and legally brought into the country, the cigars are for personal use only and are not legal to resell. They still cannot be bought wholesale from Cuba and resold by retailers in the U.S., so until such a time that the trade embargo is fully lifted, calling your local tobacconist to ask for Cuban cigars will only get you an annoyed tobacconist.

The current political situation is not ''quite'' a TropeBreaker just yet, but it does diminish the significance of a character possessing Cuban cigars, since all that's needed now is a passport. Do note that while restrictions against importation have been relaxed to the point that quantities can be purchased overseas and legally brought into the US, the cigars are for personal use only and are ''not'' legal to resell. They still cannot be bought wholesale from Cuba and resold by retailers in the U.S., so until such a time that the trade embargo is fully lifted, calling your local tobacconist to ask for Cuban cigars will only get you an annoyed tobacconist.

Do note that while restrictions against importation have been relaxed to the point that quantities can be purchased overseas and legally brought into the US, the cigars are for personal use only and ''not'' legal to resell. They still cannot be bought wholesale from Cuba and sold by retailers in the U.S., so until such a time that the trade embargo is fully lifted, calling your local tobacconist to ask for Cuban cigars will only get you an annoyed tobacconist.

See GoodSmokingEvilSmoking.

* In ''KingOfTheHill'' one episode had Hank being offered a Cuban cigar. Being the strict rule-follower he is, he breaks it in half and says "you might not have known but this is Cuban, I'll just destroy it for you."

Sometimes a case of CreatorProvincialism, when a character boasts about their cigars coming from Cuba in works set outside the U.S., where there is no trade embargo against Cuba to restrict their availability in the first place.

In American media, Cuban cigars, which until 2016 were banned from sale in the United States after Fidel Castro seized Cuba in 1959, have generally been considered items that cannot be acquired without the right connections and/or money. Therefore for a character to offer or have a Cuban cigar is usually used as shorthand for having one or both. Because of the reasons why Cuban cigars had that status in the first place, there is usually also a sense of nefariousness added to whoever has or offers the cigars in question.

* In ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'', which is set in the notoriously destitute Soviet Union, a character's possession of Cuban cigars is one of many clues that he's corrupt.

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Examples: