Cigarette packets should have plain packaging.

[Gary L]

Cigarette packets should have plain packaging to make smoking less attractive, ministers have suggested.
The government plans to ask retailers to cover up displays of cigarettes from next year to protect children.
But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said it was wrong children were being attracted to smoking by "glitzy designs on packets" and that it made sense to consider "less attractive packaging".

The Department of Health is considering the idea of asking tobacco firms to put only basic information and health or picture warnings on their packets.
Making the cigarette packets a plain colour would protect children from taking up smoking in the first place, it suggests.
It would also help support people who are trying to give up smoking, the department said.

I wonder whether the gold ones will be more attractive than the white? or will a nice pastel pink be the nations favourite?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11796903

[papa smurf]

do kids who want to try their first fag actually care about the packaging ,i doubt it .
i would say the more mystery involved [plain packets hidden away ] the more the temptation to try one .

and lets face it you have to look middle aged these days to buy a pack of rizla's .

[Gary L]

I know. it's not as if the kids see the packets on the shelf and say "oh they look nice, I'll buy a packet" they try one without even seeing the packet design probably. and then they just carry on with the addiction or the peer pressure.

the design of the packaging has nothing to do with it. and even if they did come in a boring white packet. there's some really funky cases you can buy off ebay.

[Hugh]

The tobacco companies disagree with you re packaging - link

Documents show that, especially in the context of tighter restrictions on conventional avenues for tobacco marketing, tobacco companies view cigarette packaging as an integral component of marketing strategy and a vehicle for (a) creating significant in-store presence at the point of purchase, and (b) communicating brand image.

Market testing results indicate that such imagery is so strong as to influence smoker's taste ratings of the same cigarettes when packaged differently.

Documents also reveal the careful balancing act that companies have employed in using pack design and colour to communicate the impression of lower tar or milder cigarettes, while preserving perceived taste and “satisfaction”. Systematic and extensive research is carried out by tobacco companies to ensure that cigarette packaging appeals to selected target groups, including young adults and women.

Conclusions: Cigarette pack design is an important communication device for cigarette brands and acts as an advertising medium. Many smokers are misled by pack design into thinking that cigarettes may be “safer”.

[Kymmy]

If packaging wasn't important to selling the products do you actually think that these companies would spend millions on branding???

[papa smurf]

when i started smoking as a child - like the rest of my mates i bought the cheapest not the flashiest


on the subject of packaging - i bought my usual pack of cigars the other morning the young lady that served me commented on the nice picture of a man on a sun bed on the back of the tin. no i said its a scanner my dear .

[Kymmy]

And was that before or after brand awareness become a popular subculture??

[Sirius]

Personally i would like to see cigarettes priced at a point that will help cover the cost of treating those affected by them and there impact on the nhs. So £20.00 a pack should do it

[Maggy J]

I'm with Sirius on this.

[Kymmy]

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by Hugh

The tobacco companies disagree with you re packaging - link

Well you can say that about anything really. if everything came in plain white packaging. if food was all grey?

If they did sell them all in white packaging. would we be furious with the shop keeper for selling colourful tins to put them in?

who would be the most furious. the smokers or the non smokers?

[Kymmy]

Colorful tins don't give people cancer.....

[Gary L]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

If packaging wasn't important to selling the products do you actually think that these companies would spend millions on branding???

That's a thought. if they do away with the branding and everything. we should see a huge drop in price!

[Kymmy]

Not really as you seem to have forgotten that most of the price consists of tax, and the tax will rise to cover the costs of implementing the branding restrictions..

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

And was that before or after brand awareness become a popular subculture??

it was when people bought what they could afford dictated by the amount of coin in their pockets ,a bit like they do today .