Muted media response to introduction of plain packaging law

Quick round-up of media coverage.

In terms of broadcast media there has been far less interest in the introduction of plain packaging than might have been expected. 

As I mentioned in my previous post I was booked to appear on Good Morning Britain (ITV) with Deborah Arnott, and BBC Five Live this morning but both interviews were cancelled, the latter at 30 minutes' notice, because of "other news".

We've done interviews for LBC, Talk Radio, Global Radio and a couple of local radio stations (including an interview with former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik on BBC Radio Kent) but I anticipated far more.

Print coverage has also been relatively muted too.

In contrast there has been a huge number of online reports and Forest's response to the introduction of plain packaging has been reported far and wide, at home and abroad.

Our monitoring agency has picked up well over 200 clips. Examples include:

Press Association
Guardian
BBC News
BBC Newsbeat
ITV News
Sky News
Daily Mirror
Independent
Metro
Scotsman
Western Daily Press
Sky News Australia

and many many more.

I'm guessing that the restrained print and broadcast coverage is because it will be several months before plain packaged products start appearing on shelves and the best part of a year before we see them ranged alongside one another, so the story lacks a strong visual message.

Compare that to the introduction of the smoking ban (a huge cultural change for many people) and even the display ban when it was first introduced in supermarkets.

The difference is that those bans had an immediate visual effect. Smokers were forced outside and the shutters came down on tobacco. The introduction of plain packaged products will be very gradual.

Another difference is that consumers don't feel that strongly about plain packaging. ASH may be hugging themselves with glee but I can't imagine any smokers are losing sleep over it.

Speaking to journalists I also found a general lack of interest in the issue. They didn't want to repeat the arguments, for and against, all over again with the result that one or two focussed on some of the TPD measures – the ban on 10-packs, for example, or menthol cigarettes.

Again, these measures will take a while to be noticed and the ban on menthol cigarettes won't be enforced until 2020.

So not quite the media frenzy some people anticipated but nothing surprise me anymore. I'm just glad I didn't have to get up at 4.00am to drive to London for GMB at 6.40!

Update: I'll be on BBC Radio Scotland at 5.50 or thereabouts.