Abstract
Objectives UK standardised packaging legislation was introduced alongside pack size and product descriptor restrictions of the European Union Tobacco Products Directive to end tobacco marketing and misinformation via the pack. This paper aims to assess compliance with the restrictions and identify attempts to continue to market tobacco products and perpetuate misperceptions of harm post legislation. Design, setting and intervention A prospective study of the introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products to the UK. Participants and outcomes We analysed commercial sales data to assess whether the legally required changes in pack branding, size and name were implemented. To explore any adaptations to products and packaging we analysed sales data, monthly pack purchases of factory-made (FM) cigarettes and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco, tobacco advertisements from retail trade magazines and articles on tobacco from commercial literature (retail trade, market analyst and tobacco company publications). Results One month after full implementation of the UK and European Union policies, 97% FM and 98% RYO was sold in compliant packaging. Nevertheless, tobacco companies made adaptations to tobacco products which enabled continued brand differentiation after the legislation came into force. For example, flavour names previously associated with low tar were systematically changed to colour names arguably facilitating continued misperceptions about the relative harms of products. Tobacco companies used the 1-year sell-through to their advantage by communicating brand name changes and providing financial incentives for retailers to buy large volumes of branded packs. In addition, tobacco companies continued to market their products to retailers and customers by innovating exemptions to the legislation, namely, filters, packaging edges, seals, multipack outers, RYO accessories, cigars and pipe tobacco. Conclusions Tobacco companies adapted to packaging restrictions by innovating their tobacco products and marketing activities. These findings should enable policy makers globally to close loopholes and increase the potential efficacy of standardised packaging policies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e028506 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-11 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | BMJ Open |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Early online date | 24 Sept 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Sept 2019 |
Bibliographical note
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.Funding
UK standardised packaging legislation and the EU TPD placed restrictions on tobacco packaging and marketing in the UK. Overall, although compliance with the restrictions (removal of branding, small pack sizes and non-compliant names) was not 100% 1 month after full implementation, the majority of non-compliance could be explained by less popular tobacco products that were not widely circulated. However, clarity is needed about the legality of isolated incidents such as the compliance of the Marlboro resealable pack and Gawith Hoggath’s marketing of its Kendal pipe tobacco as RYO ( online supplementary video 1 ). Technical compliance aside, this paper identified four key strategies used by tobacco companies to circumvent the legislation. First, the retail literature suggests that tobacco companies used the 12-month sell-through to their advantage, keeping branded stock on the market as long as possible, and using the time to communicate name changes and new brand variants to retailers and customers. Ahead of the sell-through companies increased production of branded packs, introduced smaller pack sizes to enable more affordable offerings, and encouraged retailers to buy large quantities of branded stock at reduced prices. Other countries had a shorter sell-through period with 3 months for Australia and New Zealand 31 32 and 7 months for France. 33 Governments considering the policy in other countries should therefore consider mandating a short sell-through period. Second, although compliant with legally required name removals, tobacco companies implemented a standard name change formula that maintained the brand identity and differentiation of the three-broad flavour categories 1 full flavour 2 ; smooth 3 ; menthol. 19 In 2002 terms such as ‘mild’ and ‘light’ were prohibited to curb misperceptions of relative harm. However, the continuation of the colours of the previous packs such as the gold and white pack for Marlboro ‘lights’ and the introduction of terms such as smooth for other brands sustained these misperceptions. 34 35 In line with the power of colour in brand identity, 35–37 this study shows that tobacco companies changed ‘ full-flavour’ variants to red, original, or real; menthol variants to green ; and smooth variants to bright and blue (or yellow for RYO). As in 2002, the current restrictions on tobacco product name were designed disrupt misperceptions of relative harms based on flavour descriptions. However, by maintaining the broad flavour categories, through the use of colour descriptors, such misperceptions are likely to endure. Additionally, cigarette packs with filter descriptions such as ‘advanced’ and ‘firm’ filter are perceived as less harmful by existing smokers and therefore perpetuate the perceptions that some tobacco brand variants are less harmful than others. 38 Given that companies continue to innovate their product names and descriptions it may be considered necessary to follow the example of Uruguay where only one brand variant is permitted per brand and no new brands are allowed. 39 Third, Nielsen data and the commercial literature revealed that tobacco companies were fighting fervently for market share in the cheaper price segments with a price war preimplementation. In the lower price segments, tobacco companies implemented more name changes, introduced more new brand variants (including menthol and flavour capsules) and more RYO variants and placed more advertisements for lower priced products then they did for premium and midprice products. Other work suggests that RYO is a lower cost alternative to smokers who may otherwise quit and so this may explain the introduction of more RYO offerings in lower price segments. 40–42 Similarly, menthol and particularly flavour-capsule variants appeal more to non-smokers and non-daily smokers compared with smokers and may therefore recruit non-smokers. 8 Flavoured cigarettes including capsule flavourings will be outlawed in the EU by May 2020. With the UK set to leave the EU in 2019, the tobacco industry may use this opportunity to try and roll back tobacco control regulations made under the EU TPD. Our fourth finding that tobacco companies are innovating tobacco products, features and accessories not covered by the UK or EU legislation for growth provides may provide a rationale for expanding the legislation to include products such as RYO filters and papers, standardised packaging for cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, wholesale outer wraps, standardised pack edges, maximum pack sizes and prohibitions for innovations to pack seals. Tobacco companies, such as IMT in the UK have recently introduced a whole series of FCVs to their Rizla filter tip product offerings for RYO tobacco. The strength of this paper lies both in the detail and depth of each analysis including our systematic analysis of retail press advertisements (n=195) and commercial literature articles and reports (n=396) alongside pack purchases of the top selling brands and detailed sales information from Nielsen. Using multiple data sources enabled findings to be verified by more than one source and enabled a greater understanding of the tobacco industry’s motives for any changes made to their products and packaging. In addition to the evidence presented by others, 1 13 14 by following these data sources up to 7 months postlegislation we were able to observe tobacco companies increased focus on innovations to exemptions to the legislation that offered opportunities for growth, for example, RYO filters and accessories and cigars. Nevertheless, despite evidence from an IMT whistleblower 43 and Philip Morris International’s own words, 44 our data did not reveal price mark stickers on tobacco products. This may be because we bought our eight brands from a large supermarket and not a convenience store and because this industry strategy was not highlighted in the retail literature due to the questionable legality of this strategy. 45 Resources prevented us from acquiring Nielsen data on cigars or pipe tobacco and from purchasing more than one brand per price segment in the pack purchasing study element. However, the retail literature alerted us that cigars and other products were targeted as growth opportunities and, although not able to fully capture the sensory nature of brands, our analysis of the advertisements ensured that we saw many, if not all, innovations being promoted to retailers. Nielsen data do not record whether RYO products are sold in standardised packs. We assumed that 30 g packs were always in standardised packs and that larger packs would switch to standardised packs at the same time. It is possible that this did not occur. However, the temporal patterns of name changes and pack sizes in the Nielsen data were similar for FM and RYO and it is therefore reasonable to assume that branding was removed at the same time. Nielsen model prices and volumes for the UK-based on a census of the major supermarket sales and a rolling sample of convenience stores. Although, we do not know the extent to which Nielsen variant name changes lag behind and even reflect those printed on packs in retailers, the main name change patterns found in the Nielsen data were similar to those found in a UK convenience store study 46 and two evaluations of the introduction of standardised packaging in Australia. 4 5 Given that the tobacco industry is attempting to circumvent standardised packaging legislation, other countries considering the policy should consider how to make regulations as comprehensive as possible to prevent the exploitation of continued marketing opportunities. In summary, the evidence in this paper suggests a number of possible policy options, namely that long sell-through periods should be avoided and that restricting tobacco products to one brand variant per brand may be the only comprehensive way to prevent misperceptions of harm and an that extending regulations to include other tobacco products, features and accessories should be considered. The authors would like to thank Dr Rob Branston who read and commented upon a near final draft and Ilhan Marsal who helped with early preparation of the advertisements and pack purchased data. We would also like to acknowledge Nielsen (UK) and Public Health England for provision of the sales data. Contributors ABG designed the study with contributions from KAE-R and RH. KAE-R led the writing of the paper and designed, conducted and analysed the pack purchase element of the study. RH analysed the Nielsen data in addition to downloading and analysing the commercial literature. KL collated the retail literature advertisements, involving visits to the British Library and analysed the data. All authors read and approved the manuscript. Funding This work was supported by Cancer Research UK grant number C27260/A23168. The authors are members of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies, a UK Clinical Research Collaboration Public Health Research Centre of Excellence whose work issupported by funding from the Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, and the National Institute for HealthResearch under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (MR/K023195/1). Competing interests None declared. Patient consent for publication Obtained. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. Data availability statement Data are available in a public, open access repository. Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available.
Keywords
- plain packs
- standardised packaging
- tobacco
- tobacco industry
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine
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Anna Gilmore
- Department for Health - Professor
- Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG)
- Centre for 21st Century Public Health - Co-Director
- Centre for Governance, Regulation and Industrial Strategy
- Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy and Society (CASPS)
Person: Research & Teaching, Core staff
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Rosemary Hiscock
- Department for Health - Research Associate
- Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG)
- Centre for 21st Century Public Health
Person: Researcher