What? Statistically, smoking is the least dangerous thing in Australia!
When will any of these governments begin to grow a pair and finally get around to banning cigarettes?
We’ve had packages like that in Canada for ages.
When prohibition starts working to prevent use of the product, rather than driving it underground and enriching criminal enterprise.
That said, belated congratulations to Australia for winning the lawsuit that allows them to use this packaging!
Because it’s up to the consumer to determine if the potential risk is worth the habit. Honestly if a government were going to ban harmful substances where do you draw the line? Alcohol and sugar (just to give two examples) could be argued that they are more harmful than tobacco, and more readily available.
I’m still waiting for that “Tumors” brand of cigarette.
At some point, sufficiently disgusting packaging might lead to an underground market for cigarettes in plain wrappers.
Although I guess it would have to be pretty horrific – people can tune out most anything that they see regularly. (Like web ads.) Maybe packs which have the shape, color, smell, and texture (including moisture) of diseased organs would do it.
Typical Canadians, always bragging about their packages!
Or people can just roll their own, or buy freshly rolled cigarettes.
I doubt it — who would pay more for a different one-time-use package?
I can see either (or both) of two things happening, if people decide they want to avoid the images but not quit smoking:
- Cigarette cases come back into style
- People will sell reusable wrappers (like hardcover book jackets) that they can slide over their packs to hide the disgusting imagery.
Curse those endlessly resourceful smokers! We’ll just have to ban all tobacco that is not in approved packaging.
Those are gonna be very popular at Halloween. Or, for someone like me, any time. I’d buy them, throw away the cigarettes, and leave the package in a co-worker’s chair.
Why the fuck would you do that?
-
You lose tax revenue.
-
Prohibition doesn’t work.
-
The war on drugs has shown how fucked up this whole concept is.
Though I would like to see the same thing applied to alcohol bottles. You know, like Jones Soda? That sort of things, only all the regretful stuff after too much drinking.
People will sell reusable wrappers (like hardcover book jackets) that they can slide over their packs to hide the disgusting imagery.
That’s what you see here. Most shops that sell cigarettes also sell silicon sleeves for the boxes.
Has it had an affect?
Pretty sure everyone knows it is bad for them. Eventually you just tune it out.
I don’t have actual evidence. I worked for a company that did advertising for a tobacco company (not my fave. At least a/ I didn’t work on it, and b/ it was actually microsites for sporting events they sponsored). They were certain that it was hurting them. They also kept complaining their freedom of speech was being taken away, and had to be reminded that in Canada you don’t technically have that freedom.
Oh, one showed a drooping cigarette to illustrate erectile disfunction, and it was actually news to people that could be a side effect. Imagine that had an impact.
So are they more popular than ever now? About the same? Or less?
Cigarettes have killed more of my family members than I care to count, when I get the call at 3AM I just assume that they were smokers.
