MIKE Ridgway's comments "plain packs" (letters, August 28) defy logic, the basic rules of marketing and common sense.

To suggest people's purchasing habits are not influenced by an attraction to one type of packaging over another is foolhardy. Why else are cigarettes sold in jazzy packets if it is not for marketing purposes and an attempt to gain an edge on their competitors?

He, himself, states that to package cigarettes in the jazzy packaging we currently see is "worth many hundreds of millions of pounds to the UK economy". Why on earth would cigarette companies spend hundreds of millions of pounds of what would otherwise be their profits if it were not to make their respective brand more attractive to the consumer, resulting in higher sales of their cigarettes?

The bottom line is that over a generation, with cigarettes appearing less attractive through being almost impossible to market, fewer people will be smoking; it stands to reason. The fact that one year's worth of figures don't support this is irrelevant. Meaningful data can only be collected over a generation.

D I Newman

Old Wargrave Road, Newton-le-Willows