The FDA made this switch due to safety concerns. Words like “light,” “mild,” and “low” lulled consumers into thinking that these cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes, keeping them from trying to quit smoking. In reality, all cigarettes are equally dangerous. In many cases, cigarette manufacturers have responded by simply removing the banned words from their cigarette packages and letting the colors do the talking. For example, now blue, gold, and silver are typically reserved for the supposedly milder products, while red is used for traditional cigarettes and the color green for menthol cigarettes. The Perception of Cigarette Packages Though the words that might prevent people from quitting smoking are gone, research has shown that the perception of these new cigarette packages is the same. For example, in a 2011 study of 197 smokers and 200 nonsmokers who were shown different cigarette packages at random, the participants selected the lighter-colored packages as the ones that had less tar, a smoother taste, and a lower health risk compared to the darker-colored packages. In a separate study of 193 smokers, the smokers who were the most concerned about overall health, tar levels, and nicotine levels chose the whitest cigarette packages as the safest options. As these studies show, the perceptions of both smokers and nonsmokers have changed very little, despite the absence of words like light and mild. As a result, most smoking cessation experts agree that they do very little to encourage people to quit smoking. “As with any product being marketed, packaging is developed to be attractive and appealing to the consumer,” says Pat Folan, RN, the director of the North Shore-LIJ Center for Tobacco Control in Great Neck, N.Y. “The cigarette manufacturers advertise their products with attractive and appealing packaging in an effort to engage new consumers and maintain their current consumers.” Other prominent quit-smoking experts, such as K. Michael Cummings, PhD, MPH, chairman and professor of oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., have called on the government to take more action in this area. “The color schemes mislead consumers regarding the safety, taste, and performance of the products and thus should be altered,” says Cummings. “The changed color schemes are a modification to the product that needs to be evaluated in terms of how this might impact public health by attracting news users and delaying quitting by current users. That is what is required under the FDA law to regulate tobacco products.” One change that could help would be to add labels to cigarette packages that directly help people quit smoking. “Current product labeling informs consumers about the harmful effects of cigarette smoke, but it does not provide them with information about quitting,” says Jenny A. Van Amburgh, PharmD, associate clinical professor at the Northeastern University Bouve College of Health Sciences in Boston. “There are currently recommendations being made to the FDA to include information about how to quit smoking on cigarette packages.” If you’re ready to quit smoking, there are several resources that can help. Check out our resource guide, and learn about free quitlines that offer support.
