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A pack or packet of cigarettes (also informally called fag packet in
British slang British slang is English-language slang originating from and used in the United Kingdom and also used to a limited extent in Anglophone countries such as Ireland, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, especially by British expat ...
; as in the idiom "back of a fag packet" or "fag-packet calculation") is a rectangular
container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
, mostly of
paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 points) than paper and has certain superior attributes ...
, which contains
cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
. The pack is designed with a flavor-protective foil, paper or plastic, and sealed through a transparent airtight plastic film. By pulling the "pull-tabs", the pack is opened. Hard packs can be closed again after opening, whereas soft packs cannot. Cigarette packs often contain warning messages depending on which country they are sold in. In the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, most tobacco warnings are standardised. A patent has been granted for a cigarette package containing a container for disposal of cigarette butts.


Package size


Pack

The size of a pack is often regulated. Government agencies usually set a minimum pack size. In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, the most common quantity per pack is 25, but some brands have 26 or 20 (the legal minimum), with 30, 40 and even 50 packs also sold. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, most packs sold have 25 cigarettes, but packs of 20 are also popular. In many European countries, increases of cigarette tax can cause the quantity of cigarettes in the pack to change to achieve the same end price. In
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
, the sale of packs containing fewer than 20 cigarettes is prohibited. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the quantity of cigarettes in a pack must be at least 20, with certain brands, such as Export As, coming in packs of 25. In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, brands are sold only in packs of 20; in May 2017, new laws restricting loose tobacco sales to multiples of 30g or 50g also outlawed the sale of 10-stick packs and branded packaging, introducing boxes which are a plain green color. The new packaging has the brand name in a basic typeface, with most of the packet dedicated to textual and photographic health warnings. While older
vending machines A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...
sometimes dispense packets containing 16 or 18 cigarettes, the dimensions of the packaging are the same as the equivalent packet that contains 20.


Carton

A carton of cigarettes usually contains 10 packs, totaling 200 cigarettes. Some cartons contain twenty packs, totaling 400 cigarettes.


Hard pack and soft pack

A ''hard pack'' is the usual style of paperboard packaging for store bought cigarettes, which consists of a relatively stable box. The flip-top hard pack
cigarette case A cigarette case (sometimes called a cigarette tin) is a sturdy container used to store small numbers of cigarettes and prevent them from being crushed. A typical cigarette case is a flat box (commonly made of metal) that opens symmetrically into ...
was introduced in 1955 by Philip Morris. This successfully prevents the crumpling of cigarettes when kept in a pocket or handbag. The hard pack is designed to make the smoker look at the brand name and logo on the top of the pack every time on opening, keeping the brand fresh in the consumer's mind and potentially increasing brand loyalty. A ''soft pack'' is a box packaging made of thin paper, usually containing 20 cigarettes. Soft packs may be considered inconvenient as they rupture easily and cannot be resealed. They offer the immediate convenience of not having to open the package each time the smoker wants a cigarette. They require less physical 'pocket space' when fewer cigarettes remain in the pack. With American brands, cigarettes from a soft pack are usually a few millimeters longer than their hard-boxed counterparts.


Collecting

Cigarette packs are popular items among collectors. They are fine examples of industrial design and a good source for studies of social, cultural and marketing history. Collectors usually base their collections on various criteria like cigarette brand, country of producer, time period, warning message, etc. Also, it's important for collectors whether the packages are empty or full. Empty packs are more common and cheaper than full ones. Full packs are considered to be rare and therefore are often more expensive, especially packs in original cellophane wrapping.


Collectible pack

To encourage cigarette pack collectors, some cigarette packs were made to present a particular interest for collectors. There are cigarette packs labeled "collectible". Some brands introduce promotional packs to bypass advertising laws. An example would be a limited time promotion where the pack is made from tin with the shape, purpose, and look of a cigarette case to entice potential buyers. They are distinguished by unique décor or are very old or they were removed from manufacturing for some reasons and consequently became rare.


Cigarette brands from 1920-1930

The most popular cigarette brands of this period were
Player's Navy Cut Navy Cut Tobacco is a defunct brand of cigarettes, originally manufactured by Imperial Brands – formerly John Player & Sons – in Nottingham, England. The brand became "Player's Navy Cut". They were particularly popular in Britain, Germany an ...
, Woodbine, Capstan, Craven 'A', and Black Cat. Woodbines were cheap cigarettes aimed at working-class people while Craven 'A' was one of the earliest filter brands initially targeted at women.


Cigarette brands from 1940s

The top-selling cigarette brands of the decade were
Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...
,
Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...
, Chesterfield, and
Old Gold Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow, generally on the darker side of this range. The first recorded use of ''old gold'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact ...
. That was the time of growth for the whole tobacco industry: again cigarettes were included in the soldier rations during World War II.


Cigarette brands from 1950s

The top-selling cigarette brands of the decade were the same as in the previous one except that the no.1 was Camel. The other brands were Balto, Brunette, Encore,
Gitanes Gitanes (, " Gypsy women") is a French brand of cigarettes, owned and manufactured by Imperial Tobacco following their acquisition of Altadis in January 2008, having been owned by SEITA before that. History Gitanes was launched in 1910 in fo ...
, and Kent. Cigarettes were widely advertised on TV.


Plain tobacco packaging

Tobacco packaging drives brand image to attract new consumers to their tobacco products and creates brand loyalty. To give stylish impact to tobacco packaging companies use different techniques like gold and silver foiling, embossing, perforating, debussing, raised ink printing, digital printing, and screen printing. In general, tobacco packaging plays a major role in advertising and promotion of Tobacco marketing. Recent introduction of Plain packaging contributes to improving public health because young people told that plain packaging reduces the positive image of smoking and the possibility of stimulus related to the package design. The introduction of plain packages was considered as the end of cigarette pack collecting by some collectors as it made the packs unattractive. The other collectors adapted to the new reality and included variations of warning messages as one of the criteria for basing their collections on.


References


External links


Encyclopedia of Cigarettes
{{Paper products Containers