A research team led by Daniel P. Giovenco of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public
Health used a packaging archive of the top-selling, mass-market cigar products in the U.S.
and their corresponding sales data to assess the prevalence of common pack features in the
marketplace. They found that the most popular brand did not display warning labels on its
single stick, cellophane-wrapped products, which constituted nearly all of its sales.
Resealable foil pouches were the most common packaging style across other brands, and
were most often sold in predominantly red, green, or silver packaging. “Cigar packaging
features such as small pack sizes, innovative materials, flavor names, bright colors, and
cost-saving promotions are prevalent among the top-selling products,” the authors wrote.
“Stronger packaging-focused policies at the federal and local levels may help curb cigar use,
reduce youth appeal, and potentially minimize existing disparities in cigar use.” Read the paper.