Content Analysis of Cigarette Packs in Indonesia: Regulatory Non- Compliance and Product Promotion Advantage

Abstract

Background: A cigarette pack is the most intimate property and frequently seen by smokers every time they want to start smoking. It gives tobacco industry the opportunity to scrutinize every single space including the inside part of the pack to promote tobacco product and it is often called a mini billboard.Objective: To analyze possible violations if any against the existing regulations on packaging and labelling and to uncover packaging design and types of promotional elements on cigarette packs. Methods: A purposive sample based on the assessment and discussion with the representatives of National Agency of Drug and Food Control that generated a total of 42 cigarette packs representing 18 sample from Jakarta, 5 most popular brands, 18 special edition packs, and 1 illegal cigarettes. The observation units, variables and observable signs that covered the materials, size, content of the entire pack including the cigarettes stick were set by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance and analyzed against the existing regulation.Results: There were two brands produced in 2019 that did not comply with the latest sets of Pictorial Health Warning. About 40.5% of sample (n=17) did not include information on production dates on the pack as mandated by Government Regulation Number 109/2012. The back panels of the top of pictorial health warning in all machine-made cigarettes were partially bunged up by excise tax stamps with exception of hand-rolled clove cigarettes. The tobacco industry took the advantage of the cigarette packs’ violations for product promotion, among others providing information on filter technology, promoting the upcoming tobacco-sponsored events, relating the product with imported goods by mentioning the country of brand origin, and using the flip lid of the pack to promote the brand name reputation. A total of 83.3% (n=35) samples gives additional products description such as bold, mild, lights, super, and special.Conclusion: The tobacco industry uses the ample spaces on both outer and inner panels of cigarette packs to promote their products, no single corners are left empty. The study confirmed violations of the regulation for product promotion.

Marketing of flavour capsule cigarettes: a systematic review

“…A total of 40 articles, published between 2009 and 2021, were included in the review (table 1). Article types varied and included 17 full manuscripts,10 24–39 4 brief reports,40–43 4 conference abstracts,44–47 2 reports,1 48 7 ‘industry watch’ publications,2 3 49–53 2 ‘ad watch’ publications,54 55 3 special communications20 56 57 and 1 research letter 58. Nine studies examined FCV marketing elements globally/generally or did not specify countries,1–3 28–30 32 34 46 50 while other studies investigated specific countries including: Argentina,45 48 Australia,56 Bangladesh,27 43 Bolivia,45 48 Brazil,27 43–45 48 Canada,41 58 Chile,45 48 China,27 38 43 Egypt,43 Guatemala,40 Lithuania,31 India,27 43 Indonesia,24 27 43 44 Japan,31 54 Malaysia,51 Mexico,10 35 43 47 New Zealand,42 Pakistan,43 Peru,45 48 the Philippines,26 27 43 44 the Republic of Korea,31 33 54 55 the Russian Federation,27 43 44 Singapore,37 Switzerland,31 Thailand,27 43 44 Turkey,43 Ukraine,43 the UK,20 39 49 52 53 57 the USA,31 35 36 Uruguay25 and Vietnam 27 43 44…”

“…Regarding study methodology, 15 studies performed a content analysis of cigarette packs1 24 26 33–35 37 41 45 46 50 55 56 58 and/or sticks33 37 41 43 46; 4 studies conducted a content analysis of retail stores25 40 47 48; 18 studies reviewed tobacco industry documents (eg, internal, reports, trade/retail press, ingredient lists), and/or observed the retail environment and/or examined the commercial market data (eg, market portfolio, brand variants, price)1–3 20 29–32 34 39 42 49 52–57; 3 studies conducted a content analysis of print and/or online tobacco advertising and marketing information28 36 38; and 1 study used a cross-sectional survey design10 (table 1).…”

“…Comes in many flavours and forms (eg, different flavoured capsules in same stick) 2 3 24 27 31 35 37 39 44 45 56 57…”

Effects of Pictorial Health Warnings on Cognitive, Affective, and Smoking Behavior: A Mixed Methods Study in Four Cities in Indonesia

“…Leaving cigarette brands on the packaging also allows tobacco companies to market their products by creating a significant in-store presence at the point of purchase and communicating brand image (Wakefield et al, 2002). In Indonesia, a study of cigarette packs shows that cigarette companies harnessed the remaining space of cigarette packs (60%) to display their catchy brands and to advertise certain events or achievements in a fancy way (Bigwanto, and Soerojo, 2020).…”

“…Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of PHW on increasing intentions to quit, quit attempts, and smoking cessation, including among adolescence (Brewer et al 2016;Blanton et al, 2014;Fong et al 2009;Gendall et al 2018;Hidayah et al, 2019;Li et al 2015;Mannocci et al, 2019;Ratih and Susanna, 2018), or even measuring on the smoker's eye movement (Park et al, 2020). Studies of the use of PHW as an effort to inform about the harmful effects of smoking is also a concern of Indonesian researchers (e.g., Alkaff et al, 2020;Bigwanto, and Soerojo, 2020;Crosby et al, 2019;Fauzi et al, 2017;).…”