4 ms·

Somehow I doubt that the packaging really influences what someone smokes and how much they smoke of it. People make decisions based on taste, strength and habit

Somehow I doubt that the packaging really influences what someone smokes and how much they smoke of it. People make decisions based on taste, strength and habit more than they do on marketing and especially pack design. If someone's smoking, they've already made the decision to do it, health consequences be damned. I doubt that warning labels, gross pictures or any other kind of package manipulation has a significant effect.

Zak 16y ago
It probably has more of an effect on starting and quitting than brand selection by current smokers.
dedward 16y ago
Yes, smokers smoke despite knowing full well how bad it is for them, more or less. Gross pictures won't make them stop for the most part. It might make a kid think twice - IIRC it mostly made poeple want to collect them all. Plenty of people bought certain brands just because of how the pack looks - it's branding and packaging like anything else. The primary goal in anti-smoking campaigns is to stop young people from starting in the first place - over time that's the best money spent. Take a look at the British Columbia anti-smoking campaigns - lowest rate of new smokers in north america (IIRC). Tobacco can't sponsor events. No more Benson & Hedges symphony of fire fireworks competition in Vancouver - now it's sponsored by a bank or something. Stores that sell cigarettes (grocery stores, corner stores, 7-11, etc) can't have them visible to the customers in any way, and can't advertise the fact that they sell them. Basically their marketing was nipped in the bud. They can sell them, but no advertising of any kind) And you know what? it works. Then you reach a critical mass where there are enough people NOT smoking that it's just not cool to smoke.... that was after no smoking in bars, restaurants, any indoor public places, within X feet of the door of any store, etc......
- mitcheme 16y ago
  "Stores that sell cigarettes (grocery stores, corner stores, 7-11, etc) can't have them visible to the customers in any way, and can't advertise the fact that they sell them." I was curious about this, because I live in BC and realized that I hadn't seen cigarettes in a store for a long time. I'm a non-smoker, but growing up gas stations and pharmacies always had the big glass case behind the counter full of cigarettes, and it recently its seemed odd that they weren't there anymore. So I looked it up, and they're only allowed a small, plain sign with no brands or graphics, just kinds of tobacco and prices. In hindsight, I remember seeing those in one or two places, but I'd assumed it was just store policy. It does seem to work. I think I've run across a handful of smokers at my university in three years, and many of them I only knew were smokers because they stank so much. Definitely not cool to smoke around these parts. Right now the university has just restricted the allowed smoking areas even further, and unlike when the government smoking restrictions came in, nobody really cares. This is a student body that half consists of people who hold protests over every political concern, and half 'apolitical' people who complain at length about every new fee or university restriction, so when nobody cares about a change that really says something.
  - dedward 16y ago
    Yeah - I dont' live there anymore but on one trip back I noticed (I don't smoke either) that every place that had over-counter cigarettes now had it covered over. It's been a wildly successful effort with long term benefits for the province.
kristofferR 16y ago
That's probably true in developed countries where everyone knows the dangers of smoking. However, people in a lot of undeveloped countries are actually still unaware of how dangerous it is to smoke. On a related note, I found this black cigarette package, Death ™, quite cool. They're honest at least: http://www.sadanduseless.com/2009/08/black-death-cigarettes/ http://www.sadanduseless.com/2009/08/black-death-cigarettes/ "DEATH™ is a responsible way to market a legally available consumer product which kills people when used exactly as intended"

Zak 16y ago

It probably has more of an effect on starting and quitting than brand selection by current smokers.

dedward 16y ago

Yes, smokers smoke despite knowing full well how bad it is for them, more or less. Gross pictures won't make them stop for the most part. It might make a kid think twice - IIRC it mostly made poeple want to collect them all. Plenty of people bought certain brands just because of how the pack looks - it's branding and packaging like anything else. The primary goal in anti-smoking campaigns is to stop young people from starting in the first place - over time that's the best money spent. Take a look at the British Columbia anti-smoking campaigns - lowest rate of new smokers in north america (IIRC). Tobacco can't sponsor events. No more Benson & Hedges symphony of fire fireworks competition in Vancouver - now it's sponsored by a bank or something. Stores that sell cigarettes (grocery stores, corner stores, 7-11, etc) can't have them visible to the customers in any way, and can't advertise the fact that they sell them. Basically their marketing was nipped in the bud. They can sell them, but no advertising of any kind) And you know what? it works. Then you reach a critical mass where there are enough people NOT smoking that it's just not cool to smoke.... that was after no smoking in bars, restaurants, any indoor public places, within X feet of the door of any store, etc......

mitcheme 16y ago
"Stores that sell cigarettes (grocery stores, corner stores, 7-11, etc) can't have them visible to the customers in any way, and can't advertise the fact that they sell them." I was curious about this, because I live in BC and realized that I hadn't seen cigarettes in a store for a long time. I'm a non-smoker, but growing up gas stations and pharmacies always had the big glass case behind the counter full of cigarettes, and it recently its seemed odd that they weren't there anymore. So I looked it up, and they're only allowed a small, plain sign with no brands or graphics, just kinds of tobacco and prices. In hindsight, I remember seeing those in one or two places, but I'd assumed it was just store policy. It does seem to work. I think I've run across a handful of smokers at my university in three years, and many of them I only knew were smokers because they stank so much. Definitely not cool to smoke around these parts. Right now the university has just restricted the allowed smoking areas even further, and unlike when the government smoking restrictions came in, nobody really cares. This is a student body that half consists of people who hold protests over every political concern, and half 'apolitical' people who complain at length about every new fee or university restriction, so when nobody cares about a change that really says something.
- dedward 16y ago
  Yeah - I dont' live there anymore but on one trip back I noticed (I don't smoke either) that every place that had over-counter cigarettes now had it covered over. It's been a wildly successful effort with long term benefits for the province.

kristofferR 16y ago

That's probably true in developed countries where everyone knows the dangers of smoking. However, people in a lot of undeveloped countries are actually still unaware of how dangerous it is to smoke. On a related note, I found this black cigarette package, Death ™, quite cool. They're honest at least: http://www.sadanduseless.com/2009/08/black-death-cigarettes/ http://www.sadanduseless.com/2009/08/black-death-cigarettes/ "DEATH™ is a responsible way to market a legally available consumer product which kills people when used exactly as intended"