EVA MARNEN

Up In Smoke: E-cigarettes, Advertising and Youth

November 24, 2015

Professor Kelly Chu

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Up In Smoke: E-Cigarettes, Advertising and Youth

Traditional tobacco cigarette advertising was revolutionary in its own right. However, in

1971, when the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved regulations to ban tobacco

advertising on mediums such as television, the tobacco industry experienced a significant defeat.

Forty years later, cigarette advertising has figuratively risen from the ashes and reinvented itself.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), or what are commonly referred to as e-cigarettes,

have replaced big tobacco in the advertising world in recent years. The relatively nascent

cigarette substitutes are battery-powered devices that deliver doses of nicotine to the user

through a plastic or glass tube containing a cartridge that turns a liquid, oftentimes flavored, into

a vapor. The desired effect is to simulate smoking, subsequently providing the consumer with the

desired amount of nicotine and the pleasurable experience of smoking. Today, e-cigarette

advertising is a serious business. Popular brands such as NJOY and blu have continuously

increased their marketing budgets year after year as profits soar through the roof (Robehmed,

2013). In following, brand awareness and exposure have simultaneously been on the rise.

Legally speaking, because e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the current ad campaigns are intended

for consumers over the age of 18 and are currently marketed as smoking cessation devices.

However, as recent studies such as the National Youth Tobacco Survey have shown, youth usage

of e-cigarettes is increasing.

This is problematic given recent research that has suggested e-cigarettes are a gateway to

using regular tobacco. In the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), 76.3% of current e-

cigarette users reported smoking traditional cigarettes as well (CDC, 2013). Therefore, in

addition to ENDS, middle and high school students are experimenting with traditional cigarettes

and subsequently receiving increased doses of nicotine. It has been widely accepted that

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“because the adolescent brain is still developing, nicotine use during adolescence can disrupt the

formation of brain circuits that control attention, learning and susceptibility to addiction” (CDC,

2015). Additionally, there is concern surrounding potentially harmful irritants, genotoxins and

animal carcinogens that have been documented in certain e-cigarette brands (CDC, 2013).

By using advertising techniques that are reminiscent of big tobacco brands such as

Marlboro and Camel, e-cigarette marketing has become a contentious issue (Elliott, 2012). As of

yet, the FDA has not passed any regulations regarding e-cigarette advertising on any media

channels, aside from devices marketed as therapeutic (American Public Health Association,

2014); however, the majority of U.S. have laws in place prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to

minors (Marynak et al., 2014). In 2014, there were several bills introduced that would prohibit

advertising intended to appeal to minors (Tarkan, 2015). Celebrity endorsements, media buying

in areas that reach youth markets and marketing product differentiation with flavors such as juicy

peach and cherry crush have made e-cigarette smoking appealing to minors. According to the

Center for Disease Control, “nearly 2.5 million U.S. middle and high school students were past

30-day e-cigarette users in 2014” (1). This phenomenon has politicians such as U.S. Senator

Dick Durbin (D-IL) calling for strict regulations on e-cigarette advertising to youth, touting it as

a gateway to smoking combustible tobacco cigarettes (Durbin, 2014). But for major e-cigarette

brands, who spent a combined $60 million on advertising in 2013 (Advertising Age, 2014), the

implementation of FDA regulations could have the same damaging effect as the 1971 ban.

Politicians and health organizations such as the American Public Health Association

support regulation of e-cigarettes because of the harmful effects of nicotine and the various

safety issues surrounding the devices. Although advertisers promote them as healthy alternatives

to traditional cigarettes that can reduce smoking or aid in quitting altogether, controversy

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surrounds the advertising exposure to the youth market. Initiatives such as The Public Health

Cigarette Smoking Act of 1970, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998 and the

Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Act of 2009 prohibited the advertising of tobacco on

television and in print media, but also barred cigarette manufactures from sponsorship at music

festivals and sporting events (American Public Health Association, 2014); however, e-cigarettes

are not included in this ban because they do not technically contain tobacco.

The e-cigarette industry, which is worth around $2 billion globally (Tesseras, 2013), has

increased in profit and sales ten-fold since 2007 when the cigarette substitutes were first

introduced. Along with rising sales comes larger marketing budgets for brands, which allows for

more exposure and brand awareness. The marketing campaigns have been labeled as aggressive

by some (Wilson, 2014) and involve tactics like celebrity endorsements, event sponsorship and

high profile commercials. For example, the blu brand has hired actor Stephan Dorff and actress

Jenny McCarthy to promote their e-cigarettes in a series of commercials. Wilson also notes that

high-profile celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Katherine Heigl have been seen smoking

e-cigarettes on television programs, which demonstrates a glamour factor for e-cigarettes

(Wilson, 2014). Moreover, the brand NJOY aired one of their commercials during the 2013

Super Bowl, which was reportedly watched by nearly 100 million viewers, a large portion of

which were youth and teens (Wilson, 2014). With catchy slogans and print advertisements that

depict e-cigarette smoking as sexy and rebellious, advocates warn that “vaping”, as it is

commonly called, could renormalize smoking (Fairchild, Bayer & Colgrove, 2014). As June

Wilson says, “celebrity endorsement, sensationalism and the portrayal of e-cigarettes in

entertainment media are disconcerting because social factors influence teens to smoke” (3).

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Of particular concern are e-cigarette advertisements on various social media platforms,

which is problematic because it is difficult to regulate marketing online. As Paek et al. (2014)

note, “for novel products such as e-cigarettes, people often rely on popular media channels to get

information and to form perceptions, beliefs and attitudes (546). Given the rise of social media

and its availability to young users, the youth market is becoming increasingly exposed to online

e-cigarette ads. In fact, in a 2014 study completed by Legacy, a part of the Truth Initiative, it was

found that teen e-cigarette advertising was high across all media channels, but highest in online,

TV and retail advertisements (18).

This has partly been an effect of Big Tobacco’s entrance into the market (Robehmed,

2013; Legacy, 2014). Brands such as VUSE, blu and MarkTen are owned by Reynolds American

and Altria – both major players in the tobacco industry. As such, national advertising campaigns

are being launched to target audiences, which Duke et al. (2014) say include 24 million young

adults, despite the fact that brands deny any intentions to market to youth.

Current discussions around the issue of e-cigarette advertising to minors center around

those that support tighter FDA regulations and banning certain types of advertising techniques

and the advertisers, marketers and brand affiliates that are opposed to advertising restrictions.

Government regulatory agencies, politicians and certain medical professionals are calling for

tighter restrictions and regulations on advertising for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost

among their concerns are the undetermined health effects caused by e-cigarette smoking because

use of the devices is fairly new and adequate research has not been completed to establish long-

term repercussions (Joseph, 2015). The introduction of FDA regulations would “help ensure

quality control relative to the chemicals and their quantities being aerosolized and inhaled”

(Joseph, 2015). Given the fact that most incidences of smoking initiation occur among teenagers

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and young adults (CDC, 2014), opponents are fearful that e-cigarette smoking will lead to long-

term usage and subsequent health effects.

Furthermore, there have been arguments purporting that smoking e-cigarettes will

eventually lead to traditional cigarette smoking among youth, which has been proven to cause

over 480,000 deaths annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Certain

advocates suggest that the FDA should take additional steps to impose restrictions on marketing

and advertising that ban flavoring liquid altogether (Joseph, 2015), as minors are more apt to

choose tobacco products with appealing flavors. In a 2015 study completed by the Federal Drug

Administration, it was found that “52% of smokers between the ages of 13 and 18 years who had

heard of flavored cigarettes reported interest in trying them and nearly 60% thought that flavored

cigarettes would taste better than regular cigarettes” (FDA, 2015). Overall, critics of the e-

cigarette advertising industry believe that the current marketing techniques in use directly

contribute to increased e-cigarette smoking in youth (Duke et al., 2014).

On the other end of the spectrum are the brands and advertisers that market e-cigarettes

as cessation devices that assist users with quitting smoking or simply a better way to get the

satisfaction of smoking traditional cigarettes without the stigma. According to Paek et al.

(2014), e-cigarette companies and certain researchers promote e-cigarettes as a tobacco

alternative that can aid is smoking cessation and are considerably less harmful than traditional

cigarettes. In fact, “e-cigarettes are a perfect aid to quit smoking because they provide a

sufficient nicotine buzz without many of the more dangerous substances and harmful chemicals

of a conventional cigarette” (Joseph, 2014). Given the fact that the advertising and marketing of

e-cigarettes is a $1 billion industry (Robehmed, 2013), stringent regulations would inhibit sales

and damage overall brand awareness.

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Despite the aforementioned facts and statements from e-cigarette brand spokespersons

supporting marketing regulations to reduce exposure to unintended audiences (Advertising Age,

2014), the controversy surrounding e-cigarette advertising to the youth market remains one of

contention and has consumed recent governmental, scholarly and professional debate (Duke et

al., 2014). As advertising expenditures rise, especially in regards to media such as television and

online, the focus has been on big tobacco brands that have spent millions of dollars to create

brand awareness. For an impressionable youth market, exposure to these brands has been shown

to increase e-cigarette smoking among minors (eg. CDC, 2013; Li, Newcombe, & Walton,

2014). Tighter FDA regulations, which would categorize ENDS as tobacco products and

therefore put them under the jurisdiction of legislative acts such as the Family Smoking

Prevention and Tobacco Act of 2009, would significantly reduce advertising exposure to a young

audience; however, federal regulation of e-cigarette advertising is not the solution to the problem

of youth smoking. The Truth Initiative, which is a proponent of living tobacco-free, found that

82% of youth ages 12-17 reported having seen an e-cigarette advertisement in at least one

channel in 2015 (Truth Initiative, 2015), yet the NYTS found that only 10.1% of middle school

students sampled had ever used e-cigarettes (Truth Initiative, 2015). They also found that

awareness of e-cigarette advertisements remains highest in retail establishments (ie. convenience

stores, supermarkets or gas stations), rather than TV or online channels (Truth Initiative, 2015,

where federal regulations regarding e-cigarette advertising would not apply because consumers

purchasing e-cigarettes are required to show proof that they are over the age of 18.

Additionally there are age restrictions in place by several e-cigarette manufacturers for all

social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (Durbin, 2014). For example,

Lorillard’s Facebook and Twitter pages use age restrictions so that “only people 18 and above

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will see the blu brand’s page on Facebook” and that any “likes” from people younger than 18 are

automatically deleted (Durbin, 2014). Despite suggestions from legislators and opponents that

big brand advertising on social media and television is a corollary of youth smoking e-cigarettes,

there are proper precautions that e-cigarette brands are taking to ensure their products are not

being marketed to minors.

Like their Big Tobacco predecessors, e-cigarette advertisers continuously affirm that their

products are not intended for the youth market. Slogans such as NJOY’s “Cigarettes, you’ve met

your match” and blu e-cigs “Rise from the ashes”, target audiences that are trying to quit

traditional cigarettes. The themes of the ads promote a healthier alternative comparable to

smoking a cigarette, but one that is odorless and less invasive to the rest of the public. In an

interview with the New York Times, Andrew Beaver, the chief marketing officer at NJOY Inc.

was quoted as saying “The more like the real thing, the more smokers get into the category”,

indicating that current smokers are the target audience for brands.

Moreover, as e-cigarettes are marketed as an aid to quit smoking traditional cigarettes and

research has shown that are in fact effective cessation devices (Barbeau et al., 2013). The

products do not contain actual tobacco and varying levels of nicotine – some liquids have zero

levels of nicotine – therefore, it is irrational to include them in the same category as traditional

tobacco products and hold them under the same legislation. Logically, that would mean

traditional nicotine replacements such as gum or patches would also be included in the

legislation. Federal regulation would be an extreme measure given the fact that laws have been

passed on the state level prohibiting sales to minors and even smoking e-cigarettes in public

places.

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Considering that e-cigarette brands made their debut less than a decade ago, their

advertising techniques have been impressive, even to their opposition. They have taken a fairly

unknown product and increased brand awareness and sales year after year. From a marketing

standpoint, manufacturers and advertisers have produced innovative and interesting commercial,

print and online ads that catch the viewer’s attention. Admittedly, there are valid concerns

regarding youth exposure to e-cigarette advertisements; namely, the supposition that it leads to

conventional tobacco smoking which is a more much dangerous addiction. It cannot be ignored,

however, that e-cigarettes present a valid option for current smokers who use the devices for

various reasons. Regulating marketing and advertising is oftentimes a difficult issue because

there is always the risk on infringing on the right to free speech, but the general well-being of the

public must be taken into considerations as well. Until there is concrete evidence that e-cigarettes

are harmful to the adult users they are intended for, advertising for e-cigarettes should not be

federally regulated.

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REFERENCES

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Careful Watch on Health Claims – Marketers Face Limits When It Comes to

Messaging, Have Tough Time Finding Shops to Work With Them. Retrieved

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Advertising Age. (2014). E-Cig Marketing Budgets Growing by More than 100% Year

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American Public Health Association.(2014). Supporting regulation of electronic

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