For decades, governments and health agencies around the world have experimented with various ways to discourage tobacco smoking. In general, anti-smoking campaigns are targeted at existing smokers, encouraging them to quit smoking, and at young people, preventing them from adopting the bad habit.

In many countries, smoking at public places has been prohibited. Anyone who wants to smoke is welcome to do it outside. Cigarette companies in many countries are also banned to advertise their products as well as to sponsor sport and entertainment events. Officially, the EU and WHO have declared that advertising of tobacco products should not be permitted.

Since the early 2000s, to counteract a century of posters, films, TV shows, billboards and other visual media sending messages, directly or indirectly, to entice people to smoke, many countries require cigarette manufacturers to put written warnings on the danger of smoking accompanied by its dreadful effects in visual depictions, both in commercials and on the product packaging.

Based on a series of studies commissioned by the Australian government in 2012, now, there is a new weapon to fight cigarettes, namely Pantone 448C. Pantone 448C is the greeny-brown colour selected by more than 1,000 smokers across seven studies as the most unappealing colour to be used for cigarette packs.

According to the respondents, Pantone 448C was the ugliest color, associated with mud, dirt, and even death. Now, the Australian government requires that all cigarette packaging should be in Pantone 448C, and put the aforementioned written warnings and visual depictions. This has become compulsory throughout Australia, followed by France, Ireland and UK.

Pantone Color Institute has declared that for them, there is no such thing as ugly color. The Pantone executive director, Leatrice Eiseman, pointed out that the pantone 448C’s “deep, rich, earth tones” was popular on shoes, sofas, and household goods. On the other hand, by forcing the cigarette manufacturers to use pantone 448C color, the addicts’ tobacco consumption dropped by 11 percent from 2012 to 2014, according to the Australian Department of Health. Thus, the Australian government’s decision to use Pantone 448C for cigarette packaging may turn out to be working.

Text by Denistya Sagita
Stock photos from Freepik
Source(s):

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3632794/Opache- couch-mix- green-brown- designed-cigarette-cartons- voted-world- s-worst- colour-think.html
• http://www.medicaldaily.com/pantone-color- stop-smoking- save-lives- 389607