There’s a growing amount of hypocrisy surrounding the ever-hypocritical tobacco industry, mainly due to the further democratization of those fancy new cigarettes.
They’re called electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes (remember, today we must shorten everything because language is in a steady decline, but I digress), because they’re basically USB like things you stick in your mouth to inhale a robust amount of nicotine or flavoring – whatever’s your chemical fancy.
It’s no use going into the fancy jargon and different types of e-cigs because the list is quite exhaustive, but the CDC has created a helpful little image, which is posted below:
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2018 there were more than 460 different e-cig brands on the market (NIDA E-cigarettes Drug Facts).
With so many options, what’s a consumer to do? Precisely, what’s an interested teen to do?
Long gone are the days of glamorized smoking; think of James Bond and Audrey Hepburn in all their silver screen glory BUT just imagine how potent they smelled.
Now there are vape artists who literally blow smoke around into shapes (cool, but an odd claim to fame) and there are an embarrassing amount of memes and gifs of people blowing plumes of Tahitian vanilla smoke into babies faces. Maybe an extreme with the babies but that smoke goes everywhere!
The real issue seems to be in how teens are “enticed” by these unregulated ads. You never see a cigarette ad because they don’t exist and are regulated so as to not send unhealthy messages to younger viewers. However, companies such as JUUL have skirted this law and capitalized on their market domination and mass appeal with their $10 million TV ad campaign, “Make the Switch.”
Aptly called an Adult Education Campaign, JUUL is attempting to refocus the conversation away from teen users. Their stories of switching from smoking seems considerate and certainly a departure from the seemingly millennial-run business model of today.
They present themselves as an alternative to smoking – the modern and cool alternative – all featuring middle aged previous smokers. JUUL may be trying to be seen as the “better” alternative to smoking, but their products still contain nicotine and other chemicals that have parents and advocates protesting outside their doors.
Parents and anti-vaping advocates protested outside of JUUL’s Manhattan offices with the promise of a bill to ban the sale of flavored e-cigs in New York. This behavior must seem routine for JUUL as they were always going to meet opposition from parents and lawmakers against the manufactured appeal to smoking.
However, the difference with this protest is that the CDC is investigating 94 possible cases of severe lung illness associated with vaping from June to August of this year. Most speculations at this point are unfounded, however, there will most likely be a more exhaustive investigation if more cases come about.
With the future uncertain and a possible growing number of issues associated with vaping, what is the e-cig market to do?
For one, they could back off with the advertising for now and should look closely at what they’re actually producing. Perhaps their Adult Education Campaign should be more focused on the science behind their products and less about the modern appeal of smoking essentially a potent USB.
But hey, the gripe here isn’t just with this industry, it’s with the lack of resources to combat all teen focused issues.
Smoking just seems to be a mainstream concern as of late. Media reports on the opioid epidemic have calmed down for a hot second, so naturally this picks up. Alcohol abuse is a timeless issue that resurges every week with a report on underage drinking, but this is different.
The issue of vaping seems more tied to our lack of modern sensibilities and an overwhelming stake in bolstering up questionable companies just because they seem trendy.
The bottom line is that these companies are selling the same product and have just slapped on a different shell and told us all it’s somehow better. But how is it actually better? There is no proof in the proverbial pudding because there is no pudding to be found.
It’s, no pun intended, all smoke and mirrors at this point. There is no reinventing the wheel here, we’ve just bought into a culture of buying the same old thing just with a charger and more internet presence.
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