Plain Packaging For Cigarettes...at Last !

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30926973

We should have got rid of all those pretty, shiny, silver and gold boxes years ago, so its well overdue. ( I know TTT will be cheering this morning ! ) The tobacco lobby has had the upper hand for far too long.

[ummmm]

It won't make a difference.

[ummmm]

Think about it Mikey. If pictures of rotting lungs and gammy teeth don't stop people smoking then putting them in a non shiny packet is not going to work.

[jim360]

It won't stop people who already smoke, but it might put off newcomers to the habit. Any word on the effect on smoker numbers in Australia?

[janbee]

I notice my local Tesco still has all ciggies on full display. I thought they all were supposed to be hidden behind covers/sliding doors etc?

[Jomlett]

Ann McKechin, the Labour MP who forced a debate on the issue in the Commons, said: “In Australia, where plain packaging legislation was introduced in 2012 and generic packaging before that, smoking rates have fallen dramatically. Daily smoking levels are at a historic low of 12.8%, and the average number of cigarettes smoked is now just 96 per week compared to 111 in 2010.

[mikey4444]

Ummmm...I don't agree.

Exactly the same thing was said when cigarette advertising was banned. The packaging of any retail product is a major part of its appeal, and that is what cigarettes packets are...advertising, pure and simple.

It is entirely counterintuitive to think that attractive packaging isn't part of the appeal of smoking. Apologists for the tobacco industry, like FOREST, will try to tell you differently but they are lying. Lying in exactly the same way as they lied years ago, by trying to convince us that there wasn't a link between smoking and lung cancer.

But if pictures of rotting teeth and lungs are going to appear on the packets, as is mooted, I can't see that it won't have an effect. Any extra help that can make smoking less attractive is to be welcomed.

Like most people I suspect, I have few friends that now smoke. But one or two still do and they tell me that Benson and Hedges, in those lovely bright gold packets are better cigarettes that the cheaper ones. Would they say the same if the packets weren't gold and shiny ?

[janbee]

Nothing will stop an addict from getting their fix. Doesn't matter what measures are taken,.

[ummmm]

Is it a Tesco express?

Only supermarkets can't have them on display at the moment.

[douglas9401]

If the packaging is of no consequence, why do manufacturers spend so much time and money on them?

Wrappers are designed to make contents desirable, even if they're poisonous, dirty and carcinogenic.

[ummmm]

I disagree Mikey. How much time do you think a smoker sits and stares at the pretty package?

[mikey4444]

Janbee...I am not sure where you live but in Wales, all the Supermarkets now have sliding screen over their displays of fags. It may be different in England. This next link explains all :::

http://ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_701.pdf

If you think that your local TESCO is not complying with current law, then you should report it immediately. TESCO are in enough trouble at the moment, and won't welcome any more bad news.

[B00]

"I notice my local Tesco still has all ciggies on full display. I thought they all were supposed to be hidden behind covers/sliding doors etc? "

If a store/shop is under a certain size (dunno what that is) they don't legally have to do this until October this year, think that's the right month/year anyway.

[ummmm]

Advertising makes you aware of a brand. It doesn't actually make you take up the habit.

I've never met anyone that took up smoking past their teens. So maybe they should concentrate on educating teenagers.

[1ozzy]

According to what the government statistics tell us, "It is working".
According to what retail statistics tell us " It has had no affect"
The media tells us " the black market for tobacco his risen".
Go figure.
Shop assistants have trouble selling the correct tobacco to the purchaser.

[Deskdiary]

"Like most people I suspect, I have few friends that now smoke. But one or two still do and they tell me that Benson and Hedges, in those lovely bright gold packets are better cigarettes that the cheaper ones. Would they say the same if the packets weren't gold and shiny?"

Yes, they would.

I can taste the difference between two lagers, and in a blind taste would know my lager of choice - your B&H smoking friends will know the difference between their fag of choice and, for example, a Marlboro.

I couldn't give a tinker's cuss either way - if they want to hide cigarettes in plain packaging, then so what, but I'm sceptical that it'll make a whole lot of difference to the number of people who smoke (which is declining) or, for that matter, new smokers.

[jim360]

Most studies show that packaging does make a difference to what people buy, ummmm, so negative packaging will almost certainly have some impact. If not on smoker numbers thrn on the brand they buy, and perhaps even the way the taste is perceived.

The measure hasn't been active in Australia long enough to draw any conclusions as to how large the effect of plain packaging is. Smoker numbers have been declining for some time anyway, at least in the western world or as a proportion of the total population.

[ummmm]

That's it though, Jim, it's the brand that will be affected, not the habit.

[naomi24]

//But if pictures of rotting teeth and lungs are going to appear on the packets, as is mooted, I can't see that it won't have an effect. //

Such pictures are on cigarette packets now.

[B00]

I find that the price is the major point when customers are choosing cigs. Yes they have a preferred brand but when they go up (and they do- at an alarming, regular rate) they'll browse for a cheaper alternative.

[ummmm]

You're right, B00, the kids are smoking the cheaper brands nowadays.