Jump to full article: Fast Company, 2009-06-23
Author: Cliff Kuang
Intro: So the St. Petersburg Times asked Pentagram partner DJ Stout to redesign the cigarette package, in light of these changes. What he produced is meant to appeal to smokers, while also turning off others.
Stout says that to pull that off, tobacco companies could embrace tobacco's deadly effects:
"Over the years there has been an onslaught of public awareness messaging about the evils of smoking. Unless you've been living in a cave for the last 50 years you are very aware that smoking is not only bad for you, it could very likely kill you. All smokers know this for sure but it doesn't deter them.
"Our marketing advice to cigarette companies in the new heavily regulated era is to fully accept the new aggressive anti-smoking restrictions and wallow in the government's apocalyptic health warnings. Don't make excuses or dance around the stepped-up marketing regulations, just transform the whole cigarette pack into a three dimensional warning label."
But is that even possible? Wouldn't these kind of amazing packages catch the eye of many more potential new users? . . .
What would the numbers really look like if tobacco companies went as cynical as Stout suggest? Wouldn't the approach just make cigarettes cooler?
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