Declining sales and a decrease in the number of brands have characterized the situation at the bottom of the market in recent years. Owing to the remarkable prosperity of the Republic of China, there are simply fewer smokers drawn to the lowest priced offerings of the Monopoly Bureau. The bottom-of-the-line favorites of the past now find little acceptance among a more affluent population. It has become increasingly rare even to find cigarettes in this price range in the larger urban centers of the island. Remaining sales are confined almost entirely to the countryside and the smaller towns of the south.
In fact, after years of falling demand, just two low-priced brands are currently being produced. Hsin Le Yuan (New Paradise), with its slice of pastoral life captured in simple red and yellow, holds up the very bottom of the market. Unchanged for many years, this long-lived pack design has become something of an institution. For many, it served as a pop-culture symbol of life in rural Taiwan during the 1950s. It seems destined to endure in its present form for as long as there is any market at all for a cheap, no-frills smoke.
Fu Kuei (Illustration 2)
The slightly more expensive Chin Ma (Golden Horse) filter also continues to cling to life. Its attractive golden horse motif appears likely to survive because consumers can identify Chin Ma with (the lower reaches of) middle-priced cigarettes. It is thus, in some measure at least, able to avoid the disadvantage of being considered a product for the less well-to-do. This fact, together with its patriotic associations, should help to keep Chin Ma on the market into the foreseeable future.
The forces of modernization have even affected the tobacco market among the aborigine peoples of the island. Hsiang Chiao (Banana), that venerable old standby in the mountain areas, has passed into history, remembered now only during reminiscences about the early post-war years. Greater mobility, modern communications, growing familiarity with urban life, and integration into the cash economy have all helped turn the mountain population toward the low and middle-priced general distribution products of the Monopoly Bureau. Today, of all the products once designed for use in the aborigine areas, only plastic bags of Fu lung (Hibiscus) and Pao Lin (Protect the Forest) are still being sold.
The apparently unshakeable predominance of Chang Shou is the central fact of life in the middle-priced segment of the Taiwan tobacco market. Since it was first introduced in 1959, Chang Shou's market share has grown steadily. With the exception of Chu Kuang (Glory of Chu), which possesses excellent pack design and strong patriotic and cultural associations, all of its old rivals from the late 1950s and the 1960s have long since disappeared. Quite simply, the ubiquitous God of Longevity and his crane have no rivals for the consumer's dollar. At present, Chang Shou's share of the total cigarette market hovers around the 90 percent mark.
Kai Hsuan (Illustration 3)
The fate of Mei Hua (Mei Blossom)** in illustration 1 is a testament to the strength of Chang Shou's hold on the market. Introduced in 1979 to provide greater choice for consumers of middle-priced tobacco products, Mei Hua offered a charcoal filter and a milder taste. Although exhibiting the same kinds of links to tradition as Chang Shou, the brown and tan used in the design and the restrained red of the Chinese characters resulted in a subtle and subdued pack that stood in marked contrast to the Monopoly Bureau's other brands. In fact, when seen in a typical tobacco sales displays of the time, the Mei Hua pack seemed to have more in common with surrounding non-tobacco products than with other domestic cigarette packaging.
From the standpoint of cultural content and creativity, the Mei Hua pack was an admirable effort. Incorporating the mei blossoms and calligraphy of a noted artist (the late Chang Dai-chien), the pack moved a step beyond the mere reproduction of traditional motifs and introduced a design of intrinsic artistic significance. On the more down-to-earth levels of public recognition and marketing, the Mei Hua pack also seemed to have much to recommend it. The mei blossom is the national flower of the Republic of China. This fact, which was alluded to on the pack, most probably helped to establish at least some measure of consumer acceptance. At the same time, the immense success of a popular song of the same name during this period was presumably also a promotional plus for Mei Hua.
Despite these apparent advantages, however, Mei Hua failed to gain a wide following. Charcoal filters enjoyed only a limited market, and loyalty to Chang Shou was too strong. Sales remained miniscule, and the brand was removed from the market in 1980.
Pao Tao (Illustration 4)
Fu Kuei (Wealth)** in illustration 2 represented another attempt to en courage diversity and develop more Western-oriented packaging. This filter brand, which was introduced in 1980, offered a simple red and white pack similar to the earlier experiments with Kong Le and Hsing Fu. Aside from the striking calligraphy, there was little to differentiate it from various contemporary foreign packs. As was the case with Mei Hua, Fu Kuei was not distinctive enough in its blend of tobaccos, and also in its pack design. It vanished from the island's sales racks in early 1983.
In recent years, the only successful new middle-priced entrant has been Kai Hsuan (Triumph)** which appears in illustration 3. Touted as being milder than Chang Shou, it offers a relatively Western pack design. In fact, it is undoubtedly the least Chinese of any of Taiwan's cigarette packs, past or present. The basic white provides the setting for the Monopoly Bureau's culturally neutral logo, which is surrounded by a floral pattern similar to that found on Tsung Tung. The utilitarian red calligraphy on the pack is intended only to convey the message. First introduced in 1981, Kai Hsuan accounts for only a small fraction of the island's cigarette sales. The very survival of a brand with a distinctive Western orientation in its pack design, however, may well signal the beginning of a gradual decline in the use of Chinese cultural motifs on Taiwan tobacco products.
Change at the top of the market has been as limited as in the low and medium-priced segments. Pao Tao continues to appear in canisters of 50, with the original pink label and peculiar Western coat of arms intact. Tsung Tung has also been able to survive into the 1980s. Although there have been a few minor changes, the same basic pack design adopted in 1971 is still in service.
Chin Lung (Illustration 5)
Perhaps the most notable development has been the production of Pao Tao in packs of 20 to supplement the existing packaging. Instead of merely reproducing the design found on the original product, the Monopoly Bureau opted for a design that was obviously intended to appeal to the sophisticated and those enamored of upmarket foreign imports. The single, aristocratic gold emblem and the elegant chuan shu calligraphy, used on the chop or seal, give this pack in illustration 4 the same sleekness that has characterized Western packs of the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, when seen alongside such brands as John Player and Rothman in sales displays in present-day Taiwan, Pao Tao appears every bit as elegant as these expensive imports.
The only new high-priced brand that has been introduced in recent years is Chin Lung (Golden Dragon)**. Appearing on the scene in 1979, Chin Lung constituted still another attempt to establish a premium brand with a distinctively Chinese motif. Unlike the ill-fated all design, its traditional "Chineseness" has been diminished even further by the strong Western image of the pack as a whole. Overall, this new Chin Lung pack, which is still on the market today, succeeds in imparting a feeling of refined luxury, and in terms of design at least, it compares favorably with both its domestic and foreign rivals.
This most recent Chin Lung pack, actually, represents a culmination of the basic long-term trends in Taiwan cigarette pack design. The pack features high quality materials and printing. Over the years, the actual improvement in packs and pack art has been little short of Chin Ting, however, the Chin Lung pack of the 1970s in illustration 5 did not thrust tradition upon the potential buyer. Instead, the golden dragon was artfully integrated into a then-fashionable red and white pack design.
When Chin Lung failed to attract smokers in the expected numbers, the pack was thoroughly revamped. The basic dragon motif remained, but the shape of the pack and the red and white background were scrapped. The new pack was longer and thinner. bringing Chin Lung more into line with the packaging of the foreign luxury brands. At the same time, a textured gold background with rich dark-red trim replaced the original colors. Although the dragon is still an important element in the over-remarkable. Those from the early years, such as for Chia Ho and Le Yuan and the contemporary Chin Lung, look as if they had come from different worlds.
These changes are, of course, primarily a result of the growth and development of the post-war economy and society in the Republic of China on Taiwan. Increasing disposable income and overall prosperity have made such improvements in pack art not only possible, but mandatory. They provided the additional revenue that made better art and design affordable, and themselves contributed to changing consumer preferences in art and design. The young farmer of 1948 who took his pack of Le Yuan to the fields has become the upper middle-class businessman of the 1980s who has vacationed abroad and expects his cigarette pack to convey this image.
At the same time, the Monopoly Bureau deserves a great deal of credit for keeping pace with social and economic changes and for attempting to provide pack art to meet new times. Unlike government tobacco monopolies in many other countries, the TTWMB has endeavored throughout the years to offer a variety of brands and packaging. While some of these efforts have been less than successful, they do represent a continuing sensitivity to consumer needs and preferences.
In addition, the pack art of the Bureau has made a substantial contribution to ROC commercial design. Careful attention to design and quality printing has long been a central concern. In these respects, TTWMB packaging has, at least until recently, been consistently better than that in the private sector, where creativity and quality have far too often received insufficient attention.
It is particularly difficult at this time to predict future trends in ROC cigarette pack art. The recent liberalization of the restrictions on the import of foreign tobacco products is certain to have an effect. In the short run, an increase in the number of foreign brands available appears likely to encourage more Western-oriented pack art on domestic products. Moreover, it is probable that the number of domestic brands will, at best, remain at current levels. There seems little possibility that there will be any return to the days when ten to twelve domestic brands could be found in sales displays. What is certain, however, is that it will continue to be intriguing to look on as Monopoly Bureau efforts, via cigarette packaging, chronicle further ROC development.