New cigarette boxes in Australia

[dariobl]

These boxes will be in stores from December 2012, all i can say is : Thank God i am not from Australia and good luck to all Australian smokers .
As good as i heard, they won't be able to see the brands either, so basically they won't know which brand are they smoking, maybe i am wrong but i heard that on news today.

 

[Autumn]

They'll probably be able to see the brand where it says "Brand Variant." But by having it in plain text the govt is trying to reduce the brand power that makes people proud to smoke "their brand."

I think it's a good thing. Here in Thailand the cigarette boxes have disgusting pictures on them as well (although they do still have the brand logo, colours etc.) and it definitely makes you think and causes some negative associations about smoking.

 

[rickstar]

I can see how it might work, but being a smoker in Australia, the prices & anti-smoking campaigns here are ridiculous, in comparison.

$14-$19 a pack for Marlboros.

 

[dariobl]

But it's funny how is the gov stupid. If everyone stop smoking, country would have a apocalypse in a financial way. Do you even know how much does country earn for taxes on cigarette ? For example, here in Bosnia, country has been rising the cigarette prices 3 times this year, they are earning a lot, and if we all stop smoking country would end up in a even bigger financial crisis.
In our country it only says like " Smoking is bad for people, it may cause cancer" and stuff like that, but we have normal boxes.

@Rickstar,

wow 19 $ for a single pack oO, i pay around 2.2 $ for a one pack of Marlboro Gold .

 

[TraucoX]

So... here we have these wonders for quite a long time ...

 

[deancow]

But it's funny how is the gov stupid. If everyone stop smoking, country would have a apocalypse in a financial way. Do you even know how much does country earn for taxes on cigarette ? For example, here in Bosnia, country has been rising the cigarette prices 3 times this year, they are earning a lot, and if we all stop smoking country would end up in a even bigger financial crisis.
In our country it only says like " Smoking is bad for people, it may cause cancer" and stuff like that, but we have normal boxes.

@Rickstar,

wow 19 $ for a single pack oO, i pay around 2.2 $ for a one pack of Marlboro Gold .

In the UK tabacoo tax raises 2.5billion a year and costs the NHS double that.

 

[deancow]

In the UK tabacoo tax raises 2.5billion a year and costs the NHS double that.

Actually just found out tabacoo tax raises 12 billion a year in the UK and costs NHS 5 million.
so carry on smoking people....

 

[SH44tre]

Just buy a cigarette case

 

[TraucoX]

$14-$19 a pack for Marlboros.

OMG... here we pay a little more than 8 bucks ....

 

[mrsix]

I'm really curious why tobacco hasn't fallen under "the war on drugs". Well... other than the obvious truckloads of money.

 

[Lalalaenhund]

I'm really curious why tobacco hasn't fallen under "the war on drugs". Well... other than the obvious truckloads of money.

Probably because it's been legal for too long, and people would still smoke. So you couldn't tax it. But mainly the politicians who made it happen would get crucified, and no politician wants to sacrifice their career for that.

It's kinda like why weed is STILL illegal almost everywhere - it's been that way for too long to change it, it's just too hard to change it in a democracy.

 

[dubious]

This is the slow and inevitable process of making smoking illegal here in Australia. What's ridiculous is that advertising for cigarettes has been banned for years here, first time smokers aren't exactly driven to the product due to brand recognition nor pretty colours. At this stage of a heavily litigated and controlled market, it is environmental factors (such as smoking at home by parent, coworkers, fellow students) that act as the catalyst for people within a certain psychographic spectrum.

There was an excellent article on reason in regards to this: http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/05/cigarettes-and-compulsion

 

[Hijinx]

They want to legalize pot, and ban tobacco... stupid politicians... it's like they have nothing better to do with their time than to come up with ridiculous new laws on historically legal products. Like if gun law #50,759 is actually going to stop a criminal (who already breaks laws) from committing murder... #1 - #50,758 can't do it... oh yeah but if we only pass this new law yeah that will make everything all better...

Don't vote stupid... all you'll get is stupid...

 

[phatzilla]

That's good. Smoking is a filthy retarded habit, and every non smoker around you hates you.

 

[Hijinx]

That's good. Smoking is a filthy retarded habit, and every non smoker around you hates you.

You are missing the point. It's a legal product. If the politicians want to make it illegal then do so, don't play games by forcing a legal industry to bend over backwards on a politicians whim. It's the same as Gun laws in the US, only law-abiding citizens follow the law, criminals do not, so another law is just going to inconvenience a legal gun owner not a criminal.

What's next a fat-ass on a package of bacon? A strung-out homeless guy on a can of beer? Remove the warning labels let nature take it's course...

 

[lancis]

I have seen such boxes when visited Thailand (or was it Nepal?). Pretty silly IMHO - it might be shocking to non-smoker who is scared of cancer already, but for a smoker or wanna be a smoker its pretty much invisible.

Tobacco companies are far from being angels, but politicians who ride on the anti-tobacco-wave are way worser IMHO.

 

[dubious]

It also should be reiterated, that this is a High Court ruling meaning that is sets a legal precedent in the highest court of Australia. I hate to go all slippery slope guy but a future Government could easily apply these same measures to alcohol, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, food products amongst other things.

Marketing forces are the inert reflections of people's true nature, using litigation to control these natural forces is merely diverting a river; the gaps are organically filled by whatever's next in line due to the Law of Category with the desirability of the original market leader lost. This is forcing an idealism, not catering for freedom.

 

[PinguSpy]

Malaysia.

 

[GoldenGlovez]

Most SE-Asian countries have these types of images on their cigarette boxes. I remember seeing them on boxes in Montreal back in 04'-05'. China however does not and neither does Russia.

 

[wannabie]

Smoking is one of the most selfish habits you can do