OUGD601- Dissertation Research - Blank Packaging

One aspect that is relative to my dissertation topic is the branding of cigarette packaging, which changed earlier this year. I may not include this in my dissertation, as it is not directly linked to social media; however, it is one aspect that could be considered in terms of the practical.

Blank Alcohol Packaging:

As of May 2017, cigarette packaging has been sold in standardised green packaging bearing graphic warnings of the dangers of smoking. This was implemented to try and prevent young people from taking up the habit, and to cut the number of smokers across the EU by 2.4 million. An estimated 700,000 premature deaths are caused each year by smoking, and cancer charities are backing the measures.

In terms of the results of such changes to packaging, it is difficult to judge; however, The Guardian have reported that the group behind the Londis and Budgens convenience store chains say that tobacco sales have plunged since the new rules came into force.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health, stated that 'while it will be many years before we see the full impact of plain packaging policy today’s results show that removing glitzy visual tobacco branding and focusing on the disastrous health impacts of smoking has been an important public health measure.'

In terms of alcohol, the dangers are as important to show as those caused by smoking. Alongside consumption levels rising, the number of hotel admissions related to alcohol hit ‘a record 1,059,210 in 2013/14’ with a ‘115% rise on a decade ago’ (IAS, 2015, p14). In a parliamentary manifesto, it has also been highlighted that 'rates of liver disease in those under 30 have more than doubled over the last 20 years (Channel 4, 2014).

Because of this, there have been calls for alcohol packaging to be standardised too.

Whilst there have been calls for changes in alcohol packaging, many people have been against the idea. A few points made on the matter can be read below:

'Branding, design and packaging are critical to our ability to make informed choices about what we drink (not to mention the jobs they provide). If improving health is the goal, education is the way forward; not the blunt tool of plain packaging.' (Jamie Fleming, head of copy, Purple Creative)

'The vast majority of alcohol brands are selling so much more than just a drink. They represent a taste, a feeling, an ethos, a personality or even a way of life. Purchasing an alcoholic brand is as much an emotional choice as a thirsty one, where consumers come to love and trust a brand by resonating with the story it tells. By stripping brands of the ability to express their own unique personality, they run the risk of becoming simply ‘booze’. (Richard Burhouse, commercial director, API)

The marketing of alcohol can be quite complex in comparison to smoking; there is much more advertising on social media in regards to alcohol than there is tobacco. A solution to packaging could be one interesting idea to explore in the practical side of my project; however, purely brand packaging may not be entirely effective.



Sources:

https://www.channel4.com/news/alcohol-label-warning-harm-tobacco-graphic-quiz
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/14/new-cigarette-rules-slump-sales-londis-booker
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/plain-cigarette-packaging-could-drive-300000-britons-to-quit-smoking
https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/features/comment/the-big-question/the-big-question-will-alcohol-be-next-for-plain-packs-05-01-2017