Plain packaging policy: Preventing industry innovations
Al-Hamdani, M.
Canadian Journal of Public Health 108(1): E98
2017
ISSN/ISBN: 0008-4263 PMID: 28425907 Document Number: 694220
The pack is a marketing tool for the tobacco industry - its shape, colour, fonts, descriptors and logos attract and mislead smokers. Health warnings on cigarette packs serve as a knowledge reminder for smokers to quit smoking. Plain packaging eliminates brand imagery elements from cigarette packs and has many benefits, including the reduction of intention to smoke and the denormalization of smoking behaviour. The tobacco industry has devised pack and product marketing innovations that thwart the effectiveness of health warnings. Plain packaging policy needs to address these innovations by restricting their use and preventing them from undermining health warnings.