Category Archives: Life In Jakarta

I enjoyed a rare moment yesterday socialising with a group of new Indonesian friends all of whom were non smokers. In a country where you quickly get the sense that the majority smokes, knowing that a growing group of young Indonesians are choosing not to, gives some indication that there is a healthier trend emerging.

Back home in Australia, the government has plans to enforce plain packaging for cigarettes in 2012. This no frills concept really takes out the ‘sexiness’ of any product. I think I would actually quit drinking beer if all my options were from plain white cans. Scary thought…

Having a friend in Jakarta whose job is to actually develop new brands or sub brands of cigarettes, I have seen how much emphasis is placed on packaging. My mate keeps new packaging designs of his latest brand and shows them off with as much affection as a new dad does with his baby pics.

If the law goes through in Australia, it would make a major impact on tobacco companies who rely heavily on colours, logos and branding to promote their product. As a potential counter measure, the Australian media has picked up an idea of the tobacco companies branding and colouring the actual cigarettes themselves. Something that is already being done with a brand in Indonesia called ‘Black’, which uses back paper and uses heavily macho themed advertising to support its ‘black’ image.

So that got me thinking, if the tobacco companies could only use the cigarette paper to differentiate themselves, can you imagine the absurdity of the design ideas. The only thing more ridiculous would be how a typical bar or cafe in Jakarta would look with smokers puffing on pink, green, fluorescent, batik themed and army fatigue design cigarettes.  I’m sure my mate is salivating with ideas…