Vape doesn’t pass the vibe check
“Juul” never believe how these ads gave birth to a staggering number of teen vapers. (Photo: Juul Labs via Forbes)
My first introduction to Juul was one marked by fascination, not because I’m a smoker myself, but because it was so compact and discreet. As someone who grew up around people who always carried crinkled cigarette packs, lighters, and tons of breath mints with them, Juul—and other e-cigarettes like it—were the sleek, “cool kid” equivalent that didn’t make you smell sus afterwards.
Even high school students could get away with sneaking a puff or two in restroom cubicles between classes. And that they do, but don’t go calling me a snitch just yet.
It’s an open secret that teenagers across the world are big vapers. A 2021 survey by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than one in four (27.6%) high school students in the US smoked e-cigarettes. The National Health Service published a survey last Tuesday showing English kids drink and do drugs less but are vaping more too.
Now, Juul Labs is paying big money (nearly $440 million, to be exact) in settlements to 33 US states plus Puerto Rico. This follows two years after these states launched a joint investigation into Juul’s promotions, claims as a “safer” smoking alternative, and subsequent success among a young market.
“Juul relentlessly marketed vaping products to underage youth, manipulated their chemical composition to be palatable to inexperienced users, employed an inadequate age verification process, and misled consumers about the nicotine content and addictiveness of its products," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in a statement.
NGL, as someone attracted to bright colors and dessert-flavored anything as much as the next fun-loving adult, I was sold on these earlier ads from Juul when it was launched in 2015. Not in an “I’ll definitely buy one” kind of way, but more in a “these ads look so good, no wonder people thought vaping is cool” kind of way. (I’m still very much as health-conscious as they come.)
Juul tries to play it cool
"We are committed to preventing underage use of our product, and we want to be part of the solution in keeping e-cigarettes out of the hands of young people," said Juul CEO Kevin Burns in a statement way back 2018. "Our mission is to improve the lives of adult smokers by providing them with a true alternative to combustible cigarettes."
Their website reflects this statement well enough, but once upon a time they used to feature a lot of young people in their ads. The fact that these ads appeared in websites like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and homework help sites didn’t help either.
In a 2020 lawsuit filed by Massachusetts against the brand, the state accused these early advertising campaigns explicitly targeted at young people of sparking vape addiction among teens in the US. Juul was previously sued by other states like Illinois and New York on similar grounds.
While e-cigarettes can indeed help adults kick the habit, the opposite effect has been found for kids. Kids who start out on vapes and other e-cigarettes are likely to use more harmful tobacco products like traditional cigarettes later in life.
As the great flavor purge of 2019 was not enough, Juul has been pressured left and right to extinguish young smokers’ habits over the past few years. Following this recent lawsuit, they’ve agreed to a long not-to-do list that includes funding education programs—using cartoons and social media and influencer marketing—and giving out free samples.
Where there's smoke, there's profit
It’s nice to know governments are still concerned about their citizens’ nicotine addictions in other parts of the world. Not in the Philippines though.
Where there are more vape flavors to go around, there’s more sales too. “From 2019, the excise taxes collected by the government on these products have increased from P12.2 billion to P15.3 billion, representing a growth of around 25%,” said former House Deputy Speaker and bill co-sponsor Wes Gatchalian, which tells us all we need to know about how the vape law was passed last July.
The vape law leaves regulation of all tobacco products to the Department of Trade and Industry, with guidance from the Philippine FDA and the Department of Health, instead of the other way around. Gatchalian said this would “provide much-need economic boost for small businesses and the government.”
It also lowers the minimum age of those who can buy, sell, and use vapes and e-cigarettes to 18 years old, modifying the previous limit at 21 years old from Executive Order No. 106 signed last February 2020.
“Smoking is a pediatric disease. Many of our smokers commence their smoking before the age of 18,” said pediatrician Rizalina Gonzalez. A 2018 position paper by the Philippine Pediatric Society said younger people tried e-cigarettes mostly because of curiosity, as well as “good flavors,” peer pressure, and the perception that they are “healthier” than traditional cigarettes—factors several e-cigarette brands have stoked for the longest time.
Senator Pia Cayetano, who called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to veto the bill, said letting it lapse into law counters declarations from his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
In the SONA last June, Marcos promised Filipinos policies that would prioritize health and be backed by science.
