Graphic Arts Magazine July / August 2019 | Page 38

Column
Plain packaging and the world’s ugliest colour
Cigarette packaging has come a long way since the introduction of the rugged and handsome ‘Marlboro
Man’ of the 1950s. Aimed at promoting a smoking lifestyle by establishing an association between
‘manliness’ and lighting up a Marlboro cigarette, he was part of Marlboro’s campaign for almost half
a century. Canadian tobacco packaging looks a lot different today than it did even a few years ago
(with the introduction of graphic image warnings that make up 75% of principal display areas on the
package), and the Canadian tobacco packaging of tomorrow will look even less sexy.
On May 1, 2019, Health Canada
announced the introduction of plain
packaging for tobacco sold in this coun-
try, which prohibits the use of logos,
unique font usage, custom layouts, and
flashy colours. Essentially, there can be
no distinguishing features on a package.
The plain packaging rules come into
effect at the manufacturer level as of
November 9, 2019 and at the retailer
level as of February 7, 2020.
Packages will be a dark brown-green
colour; the same colour adopted by the
Australian government for plain pack-
aging in 2012. Pantone 448C (for those
with a swatch book handy) has been
called ‘the world’s ugliest colour’ and
CNN reported that consumers associate
the colour with words like ‘dirty’, ‘tar’,
and ‘death’. The colour even has its own
Twitter handle (@Pantone448C) with
knee-slappingly funny tweets: “#Plain-
Packaging is such an ugly term. I prefer
#TastefullyBrown.” and “At least they’re
not printing the brand names on me in
Comic Sans. That’d just be adding insult
to injury. #PlainPackaging.”
Plain packaging for a healthier
tomorrow?
The aim of the legislation is to reduce
the appeal of cigarette products through
their main promotional vehicle: packaging.
38 | July / August 2019 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE
Tobacco advertising is all but banned in
Canada, with limited exceptions (adver-
tising in adult-only venues and through
direct mail to named recipients), therefore
packaging is a last-chance marketing
opportunity to establish brand loyalty
and promote differentiation between
products.
The tobacco industry has successfully
delayed plain packaging legislation for
a quarter of a century, as the legislation
was first proposed in 1994 as a public
health protection measure. Millions
were spent to stop the government
from implementing plain packaging. A
Canadian and UK study published by
the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group
found that plain packaging “may reduce
smoking prevalence and increase
quit attempts”, positively influencing
consumer behaviour. Smoking remains
the number one cause of preventable
premature death in Canada, killing half
of all long term users and Health Canada
reports that approximately 17 percent of
Canadians 12 years of age and older use
tobacco products. The plain packaging
strategy aims to reduce Canadian tobacco
usage by 5 percent by 2035. In a press
release about the new legislation, The
Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor,
Canadian Minister of Health, stated:
“The evidence is overwhelming that
plain packaging is an effective way to
drive down tobacco use, especially
among young people.”
Will it work to stop young people from
buying cigarettes? Does packaging have
that much power to persuade? Should
cigarettes be the only focus of the plain
packaging laws?
The Globe and Mail reported that the
use of vaping products (e-cigarette) use
among young people is growing in Canada,
which also contains addictive nicotine.
The 2016-2017 Canadian Student
Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey
found that almost one quarter (23 per-
cent) of grades 7-12 students surveyed
tried a vaping product and most students
who have tried a vaping product have
also tried a cigarette. Research pub-
lished in early 2018 by the US National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine, shows that those who
use e-cigarettes are more likely to try
traditional cigarettes, thereby introducing
a whole new generation of young
people to an addictive line of products;
only the latter of which have stringent
advertising and packaging laws. In 2018,
Ontario was the first province to pass
legislation allowing the producers of
vaping products to promote their
products. Ontario was set to ban the
promotion of vaping products as of July
1, 2018, however the new Conservative
government stopped the ban. Health
promoters say that advertising normalizes
these products to youth, who may be
most susceptible to their messaging.
Designing an Ugly Package
Rarely (if ever!) is a graphic designer
briefed to create an ‘ugly’ product, one
that consumers won’t want to buy. This
is what makes designing plain cigarette
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