Our Supporters 
Hands Off Our Packs is supported by adults from all walks of life. They include smokers and non-smokers who are sick of being patronised by the tobacco control industry.
Campaign Blog
Angela Harbutt: tobacco control, wrong again
They owe retailers an apology over the display ban
Before the consultation on plain packaging is even underway I can begin to see a bit of a pattern emerging with the rhetoric from the tobacco control industry:
-
Plain packaging is all about saving the children, plain and simple. It won’t make an iota of difference to smokers but we “gotta save ‘em kids”
-
Anyone who disagrees with them, or queries their so-called “evidence”, must be in the pay of tobacco
-
They know more about retailing than retailers; more about smuggling than HMRC; more about branding than agencies.
We will return time and again to the first two points I am sure. Today I want to consider their repeated assertions that “they know best”.
One of the claims made by the tobacco control industry currently is that ‘plain’ packaging won’t hurt the local shopkeeper. By putting cigarettes into identical boxes, their assertion is that this will somehow actually speed up the transaction time inside the store; not slow things down as the retail industry seems to uniformly agree it will. Here is what they say…
Love that “peer-reviewed” quip, it sounds so, oh I don’t know, “scholarly”
Hmm, back in 2008 the tobacco control people were asserting that the display ban would have no impact on transaction - and therefore queuing - time. They asserted that the ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) was wrong because they had “evidence” from Australia that smokers were brand loyal and knew what they wanted before they got into the store.
Well here we are in 2012 - with the tobacco display ban just coming into force amongst the larger retailers. And what do we find? Erm longer queuing times where the cigarettes had been removed from public display.
This from “conveniencestore.co.uk”
“Small stores are reporting increased tobacco sales after many supermarket outlets covered their gantries in advance of the display ban, a poll by Convenience Store has revealed.
More than a month before the display ban is formally introduced for large stores on April 6, 80% of small retailers contacted by C-Store said their tobacco sales were up month on month. Tobacco manufacturers have been rolling out display solutions to a number of supermarkets in the past month…
“Tobacco sales in both my stores have increased in the past month,” Anjali Karpal of Essential Convenience in Horsham, West Sussex, said. “The nearby Asda superstore in Crawley has already fitted doors across its gantry and it’s obviously having an impact. I visited it a few days ago and saw long queues at the tobacco kiosk. It was definitely taking the staff much longer to serve customers, plus the doors look ugly. It’s far easier for tobacco customers to come to small stores like mine where they get quick, friendly service, and are able to see that products are reasonably priced.”
I don’t suppose it will come as any surprise to anyone that the retailers actually know their business better than publicly funded lobbyists with their “peer reviewed” studies. When do you think ACS will get their apology? When do you think they will admit they are wrong about plain packaging?
Comments:
Posted by
Amanda
on
Feb 28th, 2012
I am sorry but anything that makes smoking less appealing is a fabulous thing ... Plain packs are a good idea in my opinion.Smoking is a terrible addiction ... anything that makes it less cool is great... If you didnt smoke because of the brightly coloured packs ... if it is indeed an insult to your intelligence ...Then why would it bother you if they were all plain , why would you even care... or notice ... or run a campaign against plain packaging ?
Posted by
Sarah P
on
Feb 28th, 2012
My fathers tobacconist shop will go out of business if plain packaging comes into effect. And for what ? everyone I talk to agrees that plain packaging will shock for a short while and then everyone will ignore them again. It is not a stupid idea - it is an ignorant, cruel, unfair idea.
Posted by
Ali
on
Mar 6th, 2012
So this campaign is funded by the 3 big tobacco companies? Companies which wanted their consumers to believe that nicotine isn't addictive. They did everything they could to stop the truth coming out about just how harmful smoking is, that is doesn't cause lung cancer. So yes, 'big tobacco', please stop treating us as fools. Do not 'nanny' us into thinking we "enjoy" smoking your products where as in reality it is one of the most addictive, and difficult drugs to break free from. So that we have no choice but to make lots and lots of money for your very wealthy companies. The first cigarette people smoke makes them cough their guts up and feel so dizzy they could throw up. You only start to "enjoy" smoking when you start to dread the withdrawal symptoms of nicotine addiction. It creeps up on you so subtlely that you don't even realise it until it's too late, and then bang! you're hooked. I am so glad I stopped treating myself as a fool and dealt with my addiction. Leave a Reply
Our Supporters
The Government has just launched a public consultation on whether the United Kingdom should adopt ‘plain’ packaging of tobacco products. If you oppose the plain packaging of tobacco please enter your details below. We will submit the information to the Department of Health and let the Government know that you are against this measure. By signing up you can help protect Britain from the dangers of excessive regulation.
