Cigarette Package as a Promotional Vehicle “An Industry Thinking Globally, Acting Locally” (a Chatter Box Project)

As governments around the world introduce health warnings and prohibitions against the promotion of tobacco products, the cigarette package has become one of the last remaining communication avenues through which to reach new and existing customers. This study explores how cigarette package design elements differ across countries that have varied legislation regarding the size of mandated pack warning labels and whether any such differences influence the thematic content imbued by these packages such as messages of lifestyle or relative perceived strength. Over 150 international cigarette packages were collected from a dozen countries; packages were matched by brand family name. Semiotic analytical observations about the package design were triangulated through supporting documentation, including internal tobacco industry documents. Results indicate that the messages conveyed by packs (gender, luxury, perceived relative strength) are relatively constant across countries with different sized health warnings. Regardless of health warning size, there appears to be little difference in neither the overall quantity of design elements nor the messages conveyed by the design elements (colour, monograms, coat of arms). Changes to pack design tend to be more cosmetic (shrinking fonts, repositioning of elements) than substantial, and packages continue to communicate similar lifestyle and strength messages. Given that any available surface area is able to be successfully utilized as a promotional vehicle to convey lifestyle and strength messages, these results underscore the need for increased regulation including plain and standardized packaging. The research informs tobacco control policies that seek to prevent advertising and promotion through cigarette packages.