海角大神

Could drabness help deter smoking?

翱苍听, 鈥淲orld No Tobacco Day,鈥� the World Health Organization (WHO) called on all countries to 鈥淕et ready for plain packaging.鈥� It was a prod for America and other nations to follow the 2012 packaging example pioneered by Australia.聽, the聽,听补苍诲听聽have followed suit over the past two years.

Plain packaging restricts logos, colors, brand images and promotional information on packages.

鈥淣ew evidence from Australia, the first country to fully implement plain packaging, shows that changes to tobacco packaging there led to in the first 34 months since implementation in 2012,鈥� writes Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO in a聽statement.

Since the 2012 packaging change, there鈥檚 been a , according to聽Australia鈥檚 Department of Health. By 2015, the department reported that 14.7 of adults aged 18 years and over smoked daily (approximately 2.6 million smokers), a decrease from 16.1 percent in 2011-2012.

Part of the success is being attributed to a study done in 2012 by research agency聽GfK聽which was hired by the Australian government to help make cigarette packaging as unappealing as possible. The study found that聽, also called聽"," was considered the most repellent on the spectrum and thus incorporated into packaging.

GfK spent three months generating seven聽studies with more than 1,000 regular聽smokers.

Alexander Schauss, director of AIBMR Life Sciences, in Puyallup, Wash., who pioneered studies in the connection between color and emotion in the 1960s, says in a telephone interview that he would have preferred to see research done on non-smokers as well as smokers in order to get a result that could be more predictive of whether it will curb attraction.聽

"Smokers are addicted and they're used to associating negativity, guilt, even shame over their addiction and being judged for that by others, with this particular color which reminds me of tobacco," Dr. Schaus says. "So the color has an association for them that those not addicted may not have."

But experts say that if laws are passed that mandate uniformly plain packaging there is a very good chance it will pay off with a reduction in new smokers.

鈥淐olor influences our buying decisions 87 percent of the time,鈥� says color and marketing expert聽听辞蹿听聽in a telephone interview. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure in this particular case, but I think there鈥檚 a pretty good chance it may work. It鈥檚 worth a try.鈥�

Adam Alter, associate professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business and the author of "," writes in an email interview, 鈥淵es, there's good evidence that plain packaging deters people from smoking.鈥�

鈥淎ustralia has been using the same brown packaging for some time, and a review of two dozen studies showed that it deters smoking 鈥� and also seems to make the cigarettes taste worse, which was an unexpected side-effect of the repackaging,鈥� Prof. Alter writes. 鈥淎 cigarette that comes from an ugly brown box will, similarly, seem less appealing for the same reason. We associate that brown color with so many negative substances and ideas that the cigarette comes to take on those negative associations as well. I certainly think it should be tried in America.鈥�

Bevil Conway, an associate professor of visual neuroscience at Wellesley College, says in a telephone interview that color isn鈥檛 likely to overcome addiction. It won鈥檛 deter those who are already smokers, but it could be very useful in shutting down impulses of young, potential smokers.

鈥淪mokers will go to great lengths to get cigarettes,鈥� Professor Conway says. 鈥淭he goal here, I suspect, is that by reducing the attractiveness of the packaging and that I think is justified. I think there鈥檚 good reason for that. In terms of what people care about, color is an important and underappreciated piece of that.鈥�

Conway adds, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a kid and you walk into a convenience store and see all these beautiful, vibrant colors on Skittles packaging and candy and then you see fuchsia pink packaging and red on cigarettes you say, 鈥榃ow, what is that? I want that,鈥欌�� Dr. Conway says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that initial moment that I suspect they鈥檙e trying to turn off.鈥�

Conway points out that 鈥淚t would have to be a level playing field for it to be truly effective. If you have a shelf full of colorful, glittery, packaging and one box in聽, then that box probably would not sell as well as the others.鈥�

鈥淭he military chose this color for a reason,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭hey want to be background. They don鈥檛 want to be seen. So this is a good choice to undermine the appeal of the product.鈥�

Conway says that Pantone 448 C鈥檚 ugliness isn鈥檛 so much in the eye of the beholder as the context of the object being seen.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e in the forest and you鈥檙e walking around and see that shade of moss on the floor you like it,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e in the store looking for a piece of meat and it鈥檚 that color you鈥檇 say, 鈥榊aaagh, what鈥檚 wrong with that?鈥欌��

Sadly, it does give olives a bad rap, Conway says, 鈥淭he original name for 448C 鈥榦live鈥� is misleading because the color doesn't appear to have the richness and vibrancy we associate with olives, especially because the color doesn't capture the vital texture of the olive. I can see why the olive lobby would object!鈥�