Marketing

July 25, 2019

Addiction, Health Risks, JUUL, Marketing

Juul went into a ninth-grade classroom and called its device ‘totally safe,’ teens testify

A Juul representative repeatedly told a ninth-grade classroom that the company's e-cigarette was "totally safe" before showing underage students the device, according to two teenagers who testified under oath to Congress on Wednesday. The comments came at the first of two hearings organized by the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy to...

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July 23, 2019

Addiction, Health Risks, Marketing

FDA launches TV ads featuring magician to fight teen vaping

The Food and Drug Administration is launching its first TV ads to fight teen vaping. The FDA's nearly $60 million initiative, called "The Real Cost," includes new commercials featuring street magician Julius Dein using tricks to educate teens on the risks of e-cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control says more than 1 in 5 high...

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July 3, 2019

JUUL, Marketing

#Juul: Study makes the case for stricter regulation on e-cigarette marketing

A new study on Juul-related Instagram posts makes the case for stricter regulation on e-cigarette marketing -- especially when it comes to social media sites popular with younger crowds. Looking at nearly 15,000 posts from March through May of 2018, the study found that more than a third of posts were promotional in nature...

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June 20, 2019

Addiction, Health Risks, Marketing

Half of tobacco and vape shops don’t ID teens, undercover research finds

An undercover operation in California found that half of tobacco and vape shops failed to check IDs for teens purchasing e-cigarettes and other nicotine products, despite a state law raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. Researchers sent 18- and 19-year-old "decoys" into stores without ID, instructing them to tell the...

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June 20, 2019

JUUL, Marketing

Juul’s New Marketing Is Straight Out of Big Tobacco’s Playbook

The e-cigarette giant is relying on some awfully familiar tactics to distinguish its products. Out of a firestorm of controversy over teen nicotine use, Juul Labs emerged in January with a newly sober and adult marketing identity. Forget the fruit-flavored vaping pods, the colorful ads populated with young models, the viral Instagram and Facebook...

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June 13, 2019

JUUL, Marketing

Congressman is latest to announce probe into leading vaping company Juul

US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is the latest lawmaker to announce an investigation into leading e-cigarette company Juul Labs, probing the impact of its marketing and business dealings on the "youth e-cigarette epidemic." The Illinois Democrat, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, asked the company to "provide memoranda and communications regarding...

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June 11, 2019

E-cig companies use cartoon characters as logos, and new study shows it works

Electronic cigarette use, or vaping, is unsafe for children, adolescents and young adults. Electronic cigarettes often contain nicotine and other harmful substances. Nicotine is addictive and can curb adolescent brain development, which continues into young adulthood. The leading electronic cigarette company insists it is not targeting youth as customers. I study ways to inform...

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June 7, 2019

Vaping companies reprimanded for violating tobacco ad rules on Facebook, Instagram

U.S. regulators slapped four e-cigarette companies with warning letters Friday for failing to follow federal advertising rules for tobacco on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission reprimanded Solace Technologies, Hype City Vapors, Humble Juice Co. and Artist Liquids Laboratories for failing to disclose the health and safety...

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May 20, 2019

Teens made up most of e-cigarette maker Juul’s Twitter following – study

Almost half of the people who followed Juul Labs Inc on Twitter last year were not old enough to legally purchase e-cigarettes in the United States, according to a study published on Monday. Researchers analyzed data collected in April 2018 on public followers of Juul’s Twitter account (@JUULvapor) with at least one public tweet....

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May 16, 2019

Addiction, Health Risks, Marketing

Federal judge orders FDA to begin review of e-cigarettes

A federal judge is siding with public health groups suing the Food and Drug Administration to begin reviewing thousands of e-cigarettes on the U.S. market. The ruling handed down Wednesday in district court states that the agency shirked its legal duty when it postponed reviewing all U.S. vaping products by several years. The American Academy...

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May 15, 2019

JUUL, Marketing

North Carolina sues Juul, setting up a fresh legal fight for the embattled e-cigarette company

North Carolina Attorney General Joshua Stein filed a lawsuit Wednesday against popular e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, making it the first state to take legal action against the company. The suit, filed in state court, alleges that Juul caused addiction in consumers by “deceptively downplaying the potency and danger of the nicotine” and employed advertising...

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April 11, 2019

Addiction, Flavors, Health Risks, Marketing

Rite Aid to Stop Sale of E-Cigarettes

Rite Aid said it would remove e-cigarette and vaping products from stores over the next 90 days; stores will continue to sell regular cigarettes Rite Aid Corp. is halting the sale of e-cigarettes in its drugstores, even as it continues to sell traditional cigarettes, taking a different stance on tobacco products than its two...

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April 4, 2019

Health Risks, Marketing

FDA warns companies marketing drug-imitating e-liquids

The Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters Thursday to Undisputed Worldwide and EZ Fumes for manufacturing, selling and/or distributing nicotine-containing e-liquids with misleading labeling and/or advertising that imitate prescription cough syrup. Federal regulators said these products put both children and adults at risk of e-liquid poisoning because they appear to be ingestible when...

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March 27, 2019

How Big Tobacco Is Using Instagram to Hook a New Generation of Smokers

Tobacco companies are also holding extravagant events with names like “K_Player” and “RedMoveNow” designed to connect with young people. Big Tobacco is increasingly using social media to find new ways to hook young people on smoking, circumventing decades of laws restricting the marketing of traditional cigarettes to minors. In major cities around the world such...

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March 27, 2019

Behind Instagram-friendly photos, an e-cigarette company collects valuable data

The social media and data collection efforts by Blu come as e-cigarette companies face a growing scrutiny over their products’ health impacts and popularity with young Americans. The Instagram page for a site calling itself “Pledge World” is filled with the kind of aspirational photos that have become common on social media: A woman...

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March 14, 2019

Addiction, Flavors, Health Risks, Marketing

FDA outlines e-cigarette rules, tightens restrictions on fruity flavors to try to curb teen vaping

Outgoing Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb released the agency’s much-anticipated policy restricting e-cigarette sales on Wednesday — designed to tighten sales and eventually remove from the market many of the fruity flavors he’s blamed on fueling “epidemic” levels of teen use. “We think flavored products represent greater risk to youth appeal, so...

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March 8, 2019

Addiction, Health Risks, Marketing

Vaping Is Big Tobacco’s Bait and Switch

Cigarettes hooked generations of teenagers. Now e-cigarettes might do the same. I was 15 when I started smoking, and so were most of my friends. We smoked to rebel against our parents but also to identify with them — of course they smoked, even as they told us not to. We smoked because it...

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March 6, 2019

Fake warnings on e-cigarette ads distract kids from truth

Study finds advertising strategy stuck with boys When it comes to marketing electronic cigarettes to young people, fake news appears to stick. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently requires a prominent warning about the dangers of nicotine for e-cigarettes. But just before that mandate, a 2017 campaign by e-cigarette maker blu included fake warnings...

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February 28, 2019

Under fire from state AG, retailer of e-cigarette liquids halts online sales in Massachusetts

California-based Kilo E-Liquids has stopped selling online vaping products in Massachusetts, according to its website, which states: "Unfortunately, we cannot temporarily accept and process orders from residents of Massachusetts and Illinois." Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's office sent the manufacturer of vaping liquids a cease and desist letter on Feb. 5 stating that "the...

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February 7, 2019

FDA Targets Walgreens as Biggest Youth Tobacco Sale Violator

U.S. health officials plan to ask for a meeting with top management from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. to discuss what they said was a pattern of illegal tobacco sales to minors at the pharmacy giant’s stores. The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday that it would block a Walgreens store in Miami from...

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October 15, 2018

More hip-hop videos show smoking and vaping

Roughly half of popular hip-hop music videos feature smoking, vaping and marijuana use, with displays of tobacco products and drugs becoming increasingly common, a new study suggests. Hip-hop is the leading music genre in the U.S. Its fan base includes a large proportion of adolescents and young adults of all racial and ethnic groups....

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September 24, 2018

Addiction, Marketing

Special Report – High-nicotine e-cigarettes flood market despite FDA rule

The sleek Juul electronic cigarettes have become a phenomenon at U.S. high schools, vexing educators and drawing regulatory scrutiny over their sweet flavours and high nicotine content. Now, a new wave of lower-priced Juul knock-offs is showing up at convenience stores, vape shops and online - despite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule...

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September 23, 2018

Like the tobacco industry, e-cigarette manufacturers are targeting children

It’s time to stop them. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration described teenage e-cigarette use as an “epidemic,” echoing the firsthand observations of teachers, social media watchers and the public health community. Juul Labs, the leading e-cigarette manufacturer, responded with the industry’s well-worn, lawyer-approved denial. “We are committed to preventing underage use of our...

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September 18, 2018

FDA launches new anti-vaping campaign aimed at teens

The Food and Drug Administration launched an ad campaign Tuesday aimed at scaring teenagers away from vaping using snark and special effects. The unusual campaign, which FDA officials described as “irreverent,” will target teens on social media and even in school bathrooms while staying below the radar of adult smokers who might want to...

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August 23, 2018

Flavors, Marketing

Companies cease sales of e-liquids with labeling or advertising that resembled kid-friendly foods following FDA, FTC warnings

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that all 17 manufacturers, distributors and retailers that were warned by the agency in May, have stopped selling the nicotine-containing e-liquids used in e-cigarettes with labeling or advertising resembling kid-friendly food products, such as juice boxes, candy or cookies that were identified through warning letters...

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August 10, 2018

JUUL, Marketing

How Juul made nicotine go viral

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFOpoKBUyok[/embed] Juul, the USB drive–shaped e-cigarette gaining popularity among American youth, is a potent nicotine delivery device. But on the outside, it really doesn’t look like one. Instead, it looks like a tech gadget. It’s discreet, intuitive, and comes in brightly colored flavors that mirror “collect them all” designs in kids’ products. And while those...

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August 10, 2018

Health Risks, Marketing

FDA requires warning labels on e-cigarettes

The labels read, "WARNING: this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical." ST. PAUL, Minn. - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requiring new warning labels on e-cigarettes beginning August 10. The labels read, “WARNING: this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.” In Minnesota, the FDA required labels signify a victory for...

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August 1, 2018

JUUL, Marketing

E-cigarette maker Juul targeted teens with false claims of safety, lawsuit says

When a San Diego-based mother posted an emergency alert on Nextdoor, a community discussion app, she hoped a Good Samaritan could help, according to court filings. Her son was hysterical after losing a flash drive with his homework near the local McDonald’s, she wrote, uploading a photo along with the message. A neighbor quickly...

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August 1, 2018

Vaping Draws Strong Support – From Bots

Social media accounts run by internet robots may be driving much of the discussion around the health threats posed by e-cigarettes, according to a study led by San Diego State University researchers, who also found most of the automated messages were positive toward vaping. More than 70 percent of the tweets analyzed in the...

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July 24, 2018

Addiction, JUUL, Marketing

AG Healey Announces Investigation into JUUL, Other Online E-Cigarette Retailers Over Marketing and Sale to Minors

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OUJYThDCWs[/embed] Boston — Attorney General Maura Healey announced today that her office is investigating JUUL Labs, Inc. and other online e-cigarette retailers that sell JUUL and JUUL-compatible products over concerns about the marketing and sale of electronic smoking devices and products to minors. The AG’s Office also sent cease and desist demands to two online...

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May 31, 2018

Vaping’s Wild West

Is the Marlboro Man going after unicorn pancakes and juice boxes? Manufacturers and sellers of flavored nicotine liquid products got a warning earlier this month from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change packaging that mimics food products like candy, cookies, and juice boxes. The nicotine liquids (e-juice or vape liquid) are used in...

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May 8, 2018

Flavors, Marketing

Schumer Calls for FDA Ban on Candy-Flavor E-Cigarettes

Senator Chuck Schumer is asking the Food and Drug Administration to fully regulate vapor products, including a call for a ban of fruit and candy e-cigarette flavors. "The FDA needs to be the adult in the room and put an end to these cynical marketing ploys," Schumer said at a news conference. His stance is that...

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May 1, 2018

Vaping Products That Look Like Juice Boxes and Candy Are Target of Crackdown

Federal authorities said on Tuesday they were issuing 13 warning letters to companies that sell vaping products like liquid nicotine in packaging that may appeal to children, including products that resemble juice boxes and candy. The joint action by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission is the latest step by...

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April 6, 2018

No wonder the teens are vaping

A study shows Facebook is doing a bad job of policing tobacco-adjacent ads, even in accordance with its own policies. Facebook doesn’t allow paid tobacco advertisements, but the platform is chock full of brand-sponsored pages for nicotine products ranging from chewing and hookah tobacco to vapes, cigars, and e-cigarettes — and brands play fast...

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March 27, 2018

Kid-friendly e-cigarette ads appear to work

Cartoon characters hawking candy flavors can encourage nonsmoking teens to vape or smoke In the United States, cartoon characters are a no-no in cigarette ads, and candy- or fruit-flavored cigarettes can’t be sold. But that’s not the case for e-cigarettes, and these youth-appealing tactics are luring teens who have never used tobacco products to...

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March 16, 2018

While You Were Streaming

A report by Truth Initiative® “While You Were Streaming: Tobacco Use Sees a Renormalization in On-Demand Digital Content, Diluting Progress in Broadcast & Theaters,” reveals that 79 percent of the shows most popular with young people aged 15-24 depict smoking prominently. Tobacco use in online streaming content is pervasive, rising and more prominent...

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December 19, 2017

Are video games glamorizing tobacco use?

New Truth Initiative® research underscores concern about the glamorization of smoking in video games with a survey that shows tobacco use is rarely portrayed negatively in video games. Participants in a Truth Initiative study of video game players said that they felt tobacco, or nicotine, was portrayed negatively in only 6.5 percent of games...

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November 16, 2017

Smoke Screen

Big Vape is copying Big Tobacco’s playbook Samir Soneji had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to talk about the potential risks of vaping at the first US E-Cigarette Summit in Washington, DC this past May. His first clue was the booing. As a professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health...

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