Blue Marlin brands UK launch of ButtsOut

If stopping smoking is not on your list of things to do in 2008, then here are a couple of inventions for smoking al fresco.

Along with special smoking mittens and poetry vending machines (to replace cigarette machines), the UK is launching ButtsOut, a portable ashtray.

A side effect of the new smoking laws are the 50 billion cigarette butts which become litter in the UK every year.

Should they be swept up by the council, are they the responsibility of whichever establishment you're standing outside, or should they be the responsibility of smokers? ButtsOut is a portable ashtray - a container that smokers can carry around with their cigarettes and lighters.

It's fire resistant, reusable and truly personal.

Already in use in other parts of the world, this ingenious little invention has been adopted by over 500 corporate, local councils and environmental groups for use in campaigns in 17 countries around the world, and has just launched in the UK.

Blue Marlin brand Design Group was briefed to brand ButtsOut in the UK and come up with retail and marketing solutions.

The brief was to come up with a brand which could marry the very serious environmental proposition with the playful design of the object itself.

ButtsOut is a completely new way of disposing of cigarettes, so part of the design challenge is to demystify the product and show people how to use it.

In keeping with the cigarette and litter theme, the Butts Out logo is a u-shaped icon with a stubbed out cigarette in it and the colour palette mimics cigarettes, using shades of greyscale and an orange like the orange of a fag butt.

And appropriately, all marketing materials are made from recycled materials.

"The ButtsOut is a fun solution to a serious problem so the campaign needed to navigate between the worthy and the flippant", said Blue Marlin design director Susan Fosbery.

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