A pack or packet of cigarettes is a rectangular container, mostly of paperboard, which contains cigarettes. The pack is designed with a flavor-protective foil, paper or plastic, and sealed through a transparent airtight plastic film. By pulling the "pull-tabs", the pack is opened. Hard packs can be closed again after opening, whereas soft packs cannot.
On the left, a new Finnish Lucky Strike cigarette pack by a new EU directive with warning photo; on the right, an obsolete pack as red. Some countries, such as France, the United Kingdom and Australia, go further in their warnings (plain packaging).
Box of 400 Marlboro cigarettes (Munich, Germany, 2006)
A soft pack of Marlboro Gold
Flip-up top of a hard pack
Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper and has certain superior attributes such as foldability and rigidity. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a grammage above 250 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single- or multi-ply.
Corrugated fiberboard made from paperboard
Crush-proof cigarette pack made of folding boxboard
Metsä Board Tako paperboard factory near the Tammerkoski in Tampere, Finland
