What does the plain packaging of tobacco mean?
The plain packaging of tobacco means that all tobacco products will be required to look the same.
All brand names would have to be written in a standard typeface, colour and size. And all other trademarks, logos, colour schemes and graphics would be banned.
Why should we support plain packaging?
Make packs less attractive to our children
Every year, another 340,000 children in the UK are tempted to try smoking. And research has shown that they are more likely to be attracted by designed tobacco packs, than by plain packs.
With regulation in place to restrict television, radio and other advertising, packaging is becoming more and more important to the tobacco industry to help sell their products.
Shiny holograms, pretty pastel colours and wrappers are just some of the eye-catching pack designs available, and there is building evidence to suggest that these packs can attract and mislead children.
Increase the effectiveness of health warnings
If plain packaging were to be introduced, health warnings could be updated and increased from 30% to 75% of the pack front.
Evidence suggests that the impact of health warnings are lost on current branded packs and become less noticeable.
If plain packaging is introduced in the UK, this will change. The health warnings will become bigger and more eye-catching against a plain background. This means that by making packaging plain, health warnings will become more effective.
Plain packaging of tobacco products could reduce the amount of children smoking by:
- Making tobacco packaging look less attractive
- Increasing the effectiveness of health warnings
- Preventing the use of misleading and deceptive colours to create false beliefs of different strength and quality
- Removing the positive association with cigarette brands and image
