Philip Morris International is the first tobacco giant suing the Australian government over strict new branding restrictions, which it believes will cost it billions in the region, the Wall Street Journal reports.

British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco Group are expected follow.

Why? Because their billion dollar brands, like Marlboro and Parliament, will be crushed.

Australia’s regulations, set to take effect in December 2012, require cigarette manufacturers to use a standard font, uniform text position, and the same greenish brown packaging (which research showed to be the least appealing to consumers).

Essentially, tobacco companies will be unable to distinguish themselves. And that has the tobacco giants worried. Cigarettes can separate themselves from competing products in three ways by brand, by shape (long, short, etc.), and by general flavor (light, menthol, etc.). But within the confines of a given style or flavor, brand becomes the most valuable distinguishing factor among otherwise like products.

Earlier this year, shortly before legislation made its way to Australian Parliament, a Philip Morris spokesperson told AdWeek the measures “would essentially amount to a confiscation of our brand in Australia.”

And that could very well be disastrous for the company. A November 2010 report by economic consultants in the U.K., commissioned by Philip Morris, says that “package is the most important method of branding still available” after a widespread crackdown on traditional advertising.

Researchers at a New Zealand university who conducted focus groups with 66 young adults, both smokers and non smokers, found that branded tobacco packaging by itself inspired their associations with given products.

The U.K. report, which specifically focuses on the impact plain cigarette packaging could have there, substantiates Philip Morris’ bottom line worries. It suggests a branding ban like Australia’s would trigger an overall price reduction between 4.4% and 16.1%, because no name discount brands could more easily compete. After all, they wouldn’t have a highly recognizable brand (like Marlboro, for instance) to overcome.

With a move toward hard line bans like the one in Australia, one that will disallow in store cigarette displays in the U.K., and the Worcester, Mass., ordinance that prohibits any tobacco advertisement visible from the street, tobacco manufacturers will eventually have to look outside branded packaging and find another way to set themselves apart.

Now see how Burger King built its brand around one simple idea >

Electronic cigarette brands guide 2014: full list, reviews, coupons

Price of a carton of ashima cigarettes in virginia

The State of E Cigarette Brands in 2014

Wow, 2014 has been quite the year for electronic cigarettes. This is the year that e cigs went completely mainstream. It’s almost impossible to go a day without seeing a news story about e cigarettes online or in the local news. Vapor stores are popping up like crazy all around the country and it’s now almost as common to see someone puffing on an e cig as a traditional cigarette!

This huge uptick in popularity is great in a lot of ways but it also has its drawbacks. It’s great to see so many people giving up an old way of dying for a new way of living by picking up their first e cigarette! However, it’s not fun to see the smear pieces on the local news slamming electronic cigarettes and demanding strict regulations. Regardless, I think it’s pretty obvious that electronic cigarettes are the way of the future. They are a freight train running at full speed and there is no stopping them now.

But e cigarette popularity is not the only thing that has escalated in 2014! We’ve also seen HUGE advancements in e cig technology. The new electronic cigarettes on the market today make the ones from the beginning of 2013 look archaic. Most companies have pumped out amazing e cigs that not only produce more vapor, taste better and last longer per battery charge, but are CHEAPER than they were a few years ago.

Basically what I’m trying to say is that now is the time to jump on the e cigarette bandwagon! Use our website to help find the brand that best fits your need! We recommend V2 Cigs for beginners because of their superior level of quality, but other great brands include Green Smoke, Bull Smoke, and SmokeStik. We are going to be adding more reviews soon, but you can ensure that these brands are highly recommended by me!

About the Electronic Cigarette Brands Guide

One thing that I value above all else is honesty. As a promise to both myself and my readers I’ve kept all of my reviews 100% honest, for better or for worse. I have never and will never review a product which I haven’t personally tried and spent a minimum of 2 respective battery cycles testing. I take the opinions of my readers very seriously and encourage anyone and everyone to contact me at my personal email address located on the ‘Contact’ page.

About Me

I had been smoking regular cigarettes for many years before making the switch to using electronic cigarettes. At my peak I smoked around two packs a day with no plans of quitting. I was content with my tobacco addiction until I realized that there was an alternative electronic cigarettes. I was apprehensive at first, but now I swear by them and recommend them to everyone I know. E cigs are the way of the future, and if you haven’t already made the switch you’re behind the curb! I now spend the majority of my time working, traveling, and trying new e cigs. I vow to review every electronic cigarette or e cig related product right here on this website all for the sake of giving e cigarette consumers a more informed opinion on which e cig is truly the best!