The Battle For Control Of The Cigarette Packet

Governments and tobacco companies are engaged in a struggle over territory - a few square inches on the front and back of cigarette packets. But as health warnings grow ever bigger and gorier, the companies have been finding other ways to give their products a distinctive look and feel. WARNING: some readers may find the images below disturbing. On Saturday 1 December 2012, Australia introduced the world's toughest restrictions on cigarette packets. On that day, they became drab brown containers, without distinguishing features other than the brand and product name. This was written in a prescribed colour - Pantone Cool Gray - and font - 2C Lucinda Sans regular, size 14 and 10. Graphic health warnings depicting the consequences of smoking covered 75% of the front of the packs and 90% of the reverse. But before the month was out, smokers began noticing a small change to some of their cigarettes. Under the new rules, these were meant to be unbranded, but a mysterious three-letter call sign had begun to appear near the filter. For Benson and Hedges, it was LDN. For Holliday, it was ESC. Winfield bore the legend AUS, while Pall Mall got NYC. "It's the cigarette companies trying to push the boundaries," said Health Minister Tanya Plibersek. The owner of the brands, British American Tobacco Australia, was not fined, but was told to remove the mysterious insignia forthwith. The episode shows how desperate the tobacco companies are to give their cigarettes a distinctive character - something, however small, that consumers can respond to - and how determined the Australian government is to stop them.