Australia recently announced tobacco advertising legislation to force all cigarettes to be sold in drab, olive-green packaging covered in shocking imagery and health warnings. Under this new law, all cigarette packaging will be void of logos, brand imagery and promotional text. Only the brand name will be displayed in small, uniform text.
According to an article in The Independent, the tobacco industry claims there is “no evidence” that plain packaging reduces smoking. Then recently, the tobacco industry threatened to greatly reduce the price of cigarette if the government pushes ahead with the anti-smoking legislation. In a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, British American Australia chief executive David Crow said tobacco companies stripped of marketing tools would be pushed to compete on price and could halve the cost of cigarettes. Scott McIntyre, spokesperson for British American Tobacco Australia (Bata) asked, “What company would stand for having its brands, which are worth billions, taken away from them? A large brewing company or fast-food chain certainly wouldn’t, and we’re no different.”
This will be an interesting legal battle to watch. Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the European Union are also considering the plain cigarette packaging and are interesting in how Australia manages the legal challenges.
What do you think? Will the generic yet shocking packaging change behavior? What part does packaging play in your purchase decisions? When should a government intervene regarding a product, packaging or advertising?
One Response
-
Stephen Kelly Says:
This sounds to me like the governments opening up a new revenue stream for the tobacco industry – the cigarette case industry! When I used to smoke I had friends who sometimes had fancy cases that they would place their cigarettes into. These cases were stylish (at least in the sense that they contributed to the person’s image).
I can see cigarette companies placing their logos onto cigarette cases that do everything from clipping onto your belt buckle, to fitting comfortably in your pocket, to also carrying your credit cards, etc. etc. People will just buy their cigarettes, take them out of the manufactured packaging, place them in their case, and go about their merry way.
Yesterday the WHO announced that cell phones may pose a carcinogenic risk to humans. I don’t think that will scare people away from using cell phones, and I don’t think the packaging on cigarettes scares people away either.
