Zinsser primers question

So in our nicotine-infested house we've been priming everything with BIN, Coverstain, and 1-2-3. We had to use BIN in most of the main living areas. We painted a 2'x2' square of the 123 on all the walls and ceilings left (bedrooms) to see if any brown/orange was bleeding through and a couple of the bedrooms were fine. In those rooms, we went ahead and used the 123 on ceilings and walls and then painted. The ceiling is painted in an off-white SW ceiling paint, and after 2 coats the 2x2 spot (essentially, the spot primed twice) is still showing very clearly through the paint. What did we do wrong?

If that was confusing: spot showing= 2 coats of 123, 2 coats of SW ceiling paint. Rest of the ceiling, 1 coat of 123, 2 coats of paint.

The guy at SW said it would be fine with 1 coat of ceiling paint, since we were priming it first. (and I had explained to him the whole 2x2 sections of primer all over, too) :huh: