Plain cover
I have just heard what struck me as an extraordinary claim by a lady from Ash about cigarette smokers. She told the television news that people buy the cigarette brand that says something about them.
Rubbish.
I only smoke socially, which means whenever somebody offers me one. But, the smokers I know all fall into two camps. There are those who buy their favourite brand because they like the taste/feeling that brand gives them when they smoke. The other group are those who buy whatever is cheapest - in my experience that generally means Lambert & Butler for women and loose tobacco for men.
The only person I have ever come across who could be described as making a statement about herself through her tobacco choice was a lady who smoked only pastel coloured cigarettes. They all came in a simply plain little box but each cigarette was a different, very attractive, colour. Even she didn't flash her fags about and when asked claimed that those cigarettes were the nicest to smoke.
Will putting cigarettes into plain packets stop smoking? I doubt it. My iPod was plain white, my iPhone is plain black as is my iPad yet they seem to sell pretty well. The beer I plan to drink tonight will actually come in an unbranded see-through container and yet I am still going to drink the stuff.
Rubbish.
I only smoke socially, which means whenever somebody offers me one. But, the smokers I know all fall into two camps. There are those who buy their favourite brand because they like the taste/feeling that brand gives them when they smoke. The other group are those who buy whatever is cheapest - in my experience that generally means Lambert & Butler for women and loose tobacco for men.
The only person I have ever come across who could be described as making a statement about herself through her tobacco choice was a lady who smoked only pastel coloured cigarettes. They all came in a simply plain little box but each cigarette was a different, very attractive, colour. Even she didn't flash her fags about and when asked claimed that those cigarettes were the nicest to smoke.
Will putting cigarettes into plain packets stop smoking? I doubt it. My iPod was plain white, my iPhone is plain black as is my iPad yet they seem to sell pretty well. The beer I plan to drink tonight will actually come in an unbranded see-through container and yet I am still going to drink the stuff.
ASH will say anything they think may get tobacco made illegal. (If they actually wanted people to stop smoking, they wouldn't have promoted the ban on snus, which many people use as a route off cigarettes.) I have no idea why any more airtime is given to these professional liars than to the BNP, who have similarly single-issue politics.
ReplyDeleteWhich goes to show, if the brand/packaging isn't important, you might as well put in plain packaging. Would think the fag companies would like this idea, will save them money on design their packets :)
ReplyDeleteWow, I really should not type comments on my phone, all kinds of grammar errors!
ReplyDeleteRoger, what are snus?
ReplyDeleteIan, I didn't notice any errors - maybe that says more about me than your phone typing skills ;)
Snus is a wet snuff, something like a hybrid between snuff and chewing tobacco. Remember a while ago the moral panic over "Skoal Bandits" in the UK, the evil tobacco product that would turn Our Children into smokers overnight?
DeleteTurns out (a) most users don't go on to anything else, (b) many more people in Scandinavia transition from cigarettes to snus to nothing than stop using tobacco by other routes, (c) actually there's very little harm from it anyway, even among regular users. But no, it's EVIL and must be kept completely illegal throughout the EU (except Norway and Sweden)!
I smoke, and have since 11...the social circles i found myself mixing in immediately (by age 12 - 13) put me with older folk who smoked weed, which i have smoked every day since. I am 30 now, have several degrees, several HND's and various other qualifications all of which are science based. As a result of these qualifications and the knowledge i gathered while smoking weed, i now have two businesses to boot. I have seen people make the transition from one drug to another, all starting with tobacco - my own personal choice to smoke (made despite being informed, of good intellect and ability to govern my own life) had nothing to do with advertising or packaging, and as somebody who doesnt watch tv, read magazines or listen to the radio i fail to see how these things could possibly influence my choice (not that tobacco is really advertised these days...but in the 80's as a child it was). If tobacco is made illegal, it will become another commodity exclusively controlled by gangsters and mafioso types, leading to other issues. If this eventually occurs, i doubt very much if the number of smokers will drop - everyone i know takes drugs in one form or another!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I even could not imagine how hard it is to find decent piece of info on the above topic. Afghan Incense
ReplyDelete