Camel Cigarettes (USA)

From TheDieline.com:

Predatory packaging it’s out there -- and it’s everywhere. It could be targeting you, your family, -- your loved ones. We have heard those terms bandied about, but just what exactly is predatory packaging?

It seems everyone has a different perception what this means. Similar nomenclature could include the terms misleading or deceptive packaging or packaging that promises one thing and delivers another. But simply put it’s when any group or person deems a package is using unsavory marketing/advertising practices to lure consumers to purchase their products -- and it has been going on for a long time.

Remember when in 1988, R.J. Reynolds introduced its Joe Camel cartoon icon to market Camel cigarettes? The fervor came from everyone from...

The fervor came from everyone from Ralph Nader and anti-tobacco groups to the Centers for Disease Control and conservative tobacco-state lawmakers. They insisted that Joe Camel on the package, and cigarette ads in general, were created to lure teens into buying cigarettes. The packaging was cool, hip and definitely kid friendly. It put consumer advocate groups in an uproar.

More recently, R.J. Reynolds is launching a new cigarette aimed at female smokers called Camel No. 9. It comes in a pretty pink package (the same color as the breast cancer awareness campaign insignia) as if pink will make women flock to buy them. The package has a hot pink camel emblazoned in the middle of a black box and a hot pink foil cover. Make no mistake that this package is designed to appeal to women, predominately a younger audience. With all the negative publicity surrounding smoking, would you consider this predatory packaging? Was this cool package created to lure a younger generation of female smokers?

Or take the Center for Science in the Public Interests' claim that the marketing of sweet-alcohol beverages, like Budweiser's famous bullfrogs, stimulate teenage drinking. In fact, the latest claims about predatory packaging are alcohol related.

Year: 2007
Source: The Dieline.com: The Package Design Blog