Laws that say tobacco companies can't make their cigarette packages with nice pictures and bright colors are really important. These rules are designed to de-glamourise cigarette packs — much like Lily Allen used her failed CHANEL bag purchase as an advice tool for buying a dress, pointing out that £4000 on ‘fashion’ was perhaps not something she should be doling out so often. The goal is to make smoking less appealing — and thus discourage young people from picking up the habit at all.
Australia is one of the first countries to do this on pack laws. Australia was the first country in 2012 to mandate plain packaging for tobacco products. With cancer vying with lung diseases for the lead, in 2008 Australia passed a law that requires all cigarette packages to be plain — no colors, fancy lettering or other graphic design; even company logos are banned. After Australia made this bold move, several countries including France and New Zealand followed suit by introducing legislation to curb smoking rates within their populations.
An Australian government study found fewer people started smoking after plain packaging was introduced. Indeed, just three years after these laws were implemented the Australian smoking rate had fallen from 15.1% to 12.8%. There were 108,000 fewer smokers in Australia as a result of this reduction – an important public health outcome.
Tobacco companies are not pleased with these new plain packaging standards, whatsoever. They argue that these laws stifle their ability to use the brand names and logos they have spent millions marketing in order to sell products—a major part of what many say is an integrated business operation. They say they should be allowed to advertise their products like any other company.
In fact, the moves are so controversial some of them (Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco) went as far to take legal action against Australian government over these laws. They are suing to challenge the government, basically asking for a new set of rules. However the courts, for now are largely behind keeping plain packs in place which suggest that Australia has a belief this is more about public health than simply vilifying tobacco companies.
The following are a few of the most significant reasons for which plain packaging is so impactful in lowering rates of smoking. For starters, it reduces the appeal of cigarette packs visually. The more they look like plain packs, the less people — especially kids and young adults — are going to want to light up. When you take away the bright colors of a designer portable hookah, it makes smoking less attractive.
Let us just say with a little example how the plain packaging works, lets take two package types (_ install for 2 different brands of cigarette) One of them has vivid colors, fancy lettering and a pleasing overall look. It highlights the brand name and logo, making it visually appealing. The other pack on the other hand is simple and boring. It has huge warning banners with images of the negative impact smoking can have on health;
