Plain cigarette packaging less appealing, UW study finds
WATERLOO — Wrapping a lethal consumer product in colourful packages with eye-catching labels must be eliminated to stop tobacco companies from enticing people to smoke, says a University of Waterloo researcher.
“The branding, the imagery on packs makes a big difference,” said David Hammond of UW’s School of Public Health and Health Systems.
Plain cigarette packages are far less appealing, according to a new study by Hammond, two other researchers on the Waterloo campus and another from the University of South Carolina. It was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Public Health.
They focused on young Brazilian women, age 16 to 26, in an online survey where 640 participants viewed standard, branded cigarette packages and plain packs without the brand imagery.
“We do something similar to what the tobacco companies do. We ask them to rate it,” Hammond said.
The researchers found branded packs were rated as significantly more appealing, better tasting and smoother. Those packs were also associated with more positive smoker attributes, including style and sophistication.
Finally, the women were asked to pick as a preferred gift one of the branded or plain packs — a simple test of appeal.
“Women were three times more likely to choose the normal branded package,” Hammond said.
While the researchers expected to see that packaging had an influence, they were surprised by the extent of that influence.
The study focused on young women because they are a promising demographic for tobacco companies since more men smoke.
Researchers chose Brazil because like Canada, it is a global leader in tobacco control. In Brazil most forms of tobacco advertising are prohibited, Hammond said, “but they still have a lot of marketing on the package itself.”
Plain packages are being introduced in Australia later this year. They will be a single colour with no logos or brand images — basically just the name and warnings.
“The tobacco companies are vigorously fighting this,” Hammond said.
He said the manufacturers likely fear a domino effect if the new Australian law goes ahead uncontested. Canada was the first country to put graphic picture warnings on cigarette packages in 2001 and now more than 50 countries have adopted them.
Canada is now lagging behind, although Hammond said it is most likely only a matter of time before plain packaging arrives here. Other countries are closely watching the new requirement in Australia.
Just weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled that any federal regulations requiring large, graphic warnings on tobacco packaging run contrary to the First Amendment’s free speech protections. The decision, Hammond said, was puzzling and likely makes the United States the first country where tobacco companies successfully challenged the warnings.
“They know that’s the most reliable way to reach people,” he said.
Tobacco use is responsible for 5.4 million deaths every year worldwide and is a leading cause of preventable death. That burden of death is rapidly shifting to low- and middle-income countries, such as Brazil.
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