Plain garbage
I had my usual little jaunt around the Interweb this afternoon.
Somehow I ended up on a site belonging to a British MP. Now this little twat calls himself a liberal yet he is one of those idiots that believes that selling cigarettes in plain packaging is somehow going to stop people smoking.
He seems to be under the impression that the colour of a cigarette package somehow entices “children” to buy the things? This must be one of the most deluded ideas that the Puritans have come up with yet.
When I started smoking, it was a case of nipping into a tobacconist and buying a cigarette. Yes. That’s right – one cigarette. To this day I couldn’t tell you what brand it was or what colour its packaging was. I know that practice of selling single fags has been stopped but it does indicate that packaging played no part in my choice. Later on in life, I started buying them by the pack. As far as I remember, I used to smoke Country Life which had a rather drab design, but was nice an cheap.
I have never heard of an instance where a twelve year old wanders into a tobacconist, sees the packs all stacked up behind the counter, and thinks to himself “Wow! I must buy one of those. They look great!”. For a start, there is an age restriction on buying the things, so if he is under eighteen he shouldn’t be able to buy them anyway.
Plain packaging will have several effects. It will make the tobacconists life far harder as he now has to read every label to make sure he is selling the right brand. It is going to cost a fortune. The biggest consequence though will be a boom time for counterfeiters. One outcome I can guarantee won’t happen though is that fewer people will buy them.
So far, the efforts of the Righteous have resulted in the closure of hundreds, nay thousands of pubs with the consequent loss of jobs. It has divided society and stigmatised a large minority of the population. The one thing it has failed to do is to reduce levels of smoking. On the contrary, levels in Ireland have increased by 2% since the bans came in.
It’s worth reading that article. It is a scary insight into the mind of a deluded bigot. Here is a man on a mission to save people from themselves.
The best reading though is in the comments!
my other likes to smoke those wee thin flavoured cigars..used to come with a filter but the powers that be thought that the filters made them look “more appealing to children” so now they can’t be sold with filters…@.@ damn government oh and all smokes be they cigs or cigars are behind closed doors and in drawers so “children cannot see them and find them appealing”…..@.@ again
Cat – If you want a drop of total insanity take a look here.
I get what you are saying but it is a fact that advertising works. And I hate seeing young kids starting up on a lifetime of smoking; as I did.
TT – I don’t dent that advertising works but I would query whether package design could be classed as “advertising”. I would class it as “brand identity” where one packet can easily be distinguished from another. When a display case contains a large number of brands, and usually displayed several feet from the customer, there is little there to persuade a selection of a particular brand.
That aside, the supposed purpose of the packaging ban is to prevent “children” from starting. I put “children” in quotes, as the only people who can legally buy cigarettes are the over 18s, who are in fact adults. Underage children who start smoking do not do so because of glitzy displays. They do so because their friends are doing it, and I can guarantee that brand choice is purely and solely decided by peer pressure.
I would also like to point out that the Righteous don’t give a flying fuck about children. This is just another move to further stigmatise and marginalise smokers. If they cared so much about children, why did they force smokers to abandon pubs [no children] thereby forcing them to stay at home [with the children]?
The name gives my brand of choice away .. and I stuck with the brand even when they changed the classier old pack design to the tackier new one … I do use a cigarette case now, a proper nice one, not a box to hide the box – not because of the design, but the god awful pictures and warnings… as I refuse to advertise their scaremongering.. and so should ALL smokers.
@ grandad … to right .. I suspect childern see more smokers now than ever they did, we are on display as never before…
I shouldn’t worry too much about it. Can’t do any harm.
You might also add Granddad that as of last year, by law now, cigarettes in the shops have to be hidden behind a plain screen, and are thus invisible anyway.
Plain packaging? Yup, sure worked well for beer and porno magazines. Cut things right back, uh-huh. Any other bright ideas?
Dunhillbabe – Welcome! I’m a pipe smoker myself and unfortunately, I rarely get to see those masterpieces of Photoshopping as they aren’t as common on pipe tobacco pouches here. Surely most people keep their cigarettes in their pockets or handbags anyway?
TT – Personally, I object to these fanatics dragging us down into that grey drab world that they seem to inhabit. I will object strenuously to every snide little move they try to make. If that sounds childish, it is simply because I am being treated like a child.
John – That is a valid logical point. Since when have the Puritans used logic though?
Kirk M – Didn’t know you were into the porno mags? I learn something new every day!
What a ridiculous twat Stephen Williams is – I agree the comments are are the best part of that blog.
I think my first memory of buying one cigarette was a Woodbine?!
There was also another cheap brand but the name escapes me.
We also used to be able to buy them in packs of five and they were smaller and cheaper than the “big” cigarettes.
Ahh yes 9 years old at the tuck shop on the way to school. “Hey Mista, sell us a ciggy and a match.” “There you go son. Enjoy! Don’t be late for school now.” Nostalgia. Almost worth the emphysema and lung cancer.
I believe the year after I left school they started to allow smoking in the senior’s common room. They were the enlightened times
Dead wrong. These are the enlightened times. Those were the dark, and I might add smokey dark, ages.
Which is better? To have the seniors out behind the bicycle shed handing out fags to all the juniors, or to give them their own space away from the juniors?
The bastard wants to be my mayor. I hate the little trollop. Hope he gets smoke blown up his arse.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/MP-Stephen-Williams-says-s-seriously-considering/story-14994416-detail/story.html
Welcome, Tipple! I see the Lib Dems are against the idea of Mayors, yet he [a Lib Dem] can’t announce his candidature quick enough. Frankly he comes across as an arrogant power hungry little creep. I hope for Bristol’s sake he doesn’t get in. I’m very fond of Bristol having spent some time there. Very happy memories!