The United Kingdom’s advertising regulator recently banned four video advertisements promoting vaping products that appeared on the social media platform TikTok. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the promotions violated established rules prohibiting the marketing of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes on social channels without proper medicinal licensing.
The bans represent the ASA’s latest effort to deter vaping brands from leveraging influential content creators to illegally promote e-cigarette usage among underage youth on social media. Both regulators and health groups view this priority crackdown as long overdue.
Banned Vape Promos Featured Influencers Reviewing Products Without Disclosing Paid Deals
The prohibited social media vape promotions came from accounts representing or affiliated with The Disposable Vape Store, Innofly HK, Vapes Bars, and Zovoo brands.
The ads showed various influencers demonstrating and reviewing the companies’ disposable vape devices or giving them away to followers. None disclosed they had received the products as part of paid partnership deals to circumvent advertising rules.
One ad featured a man showing off new disposable vape flavors from his store, noting some were selling out. Another had an influencer rapping about a vape brand that approached her to try its product. These undisclosed influencer endorsements clearly violated ASA guidelines on vape advertising.
Regulator Vows to Prioritize Enforcing Vaping Rules on Social Platforms
In statements, the ASA said these recent bans represent a priority crackdown on illegal nicotine vape promotions on social media targeting youth users. To date, it has identified around 300 non-compliant influencer vape posts on TikTok alone and reported them for removal.
After these latest takedowns, the authority issued an official enforcement notice in June 2022 that reminded brands any advertising of vaping products on social media platforms violates codes prohibiting such marketing without proper licenses. It demanded all brands immediately cease these activities or face escalating penalties.
The strongly-worded notice called out companies for incentivizing influencers to promote vaping products while clearly flouting rules. It served as an ultimatum to immediately stop illegally leveraging social media for vape promotions or risk formal sanctions.
Clampdown Aims to Curb Exploitation of Influencers to Market Vaping Among Teens
The regulatory body’s tougher stance aims to deter brands from exploiting popular social media influencers to push vaping among underage youth. Several factors drove the response:
- Rapid growth in teenage vaping rates as influencer marketing permeates platforms like TikTok where vape content spreads quickly among kids.
- Disposable e-cigs easily accessed online with minimal age verification compared to in-person sales.
- Vape companies leveraging influencer outreach and partnerships as a low-cost channel for targeted teen promotional campaigns.
- Lack of disclosure around paid posts and affiliate codes obscuring stealth marketing tactics.
Through visible enforcements and penalties, officials hope to discourage brands from normalizing and glamorizing vaping to young followers through social media, instead relegating marketing to strictly adult spaces.
Non-Compliant Brands Face Financial Penalties, Removal Orders, and Legal Action
To discipline rule-breaking brands, the ASA possesses escalating enforcement options:
- Compel immediate removal of illegal vape content.
- Publish public rulings to highlight the brand’s non-compliance and damage reputation.
- Refer repeat violators to government agencies for potential civil or criminal legal action.
- Recommend platforms like TikTok ban the advertiser’s account and content.
- Ultimately revoke a brand’s license to advertise at all in the UK.
These measures allow the ASA to take action based on violation severity. It expects the threat of penalties will deter improper social vape advertising without the harshest punishments.
Youth Vaping Requires Holistic Public Health Approach Beyond Just Advertising
While cracking down on brand promotions, the regulator understands its advertising jurisdiction has limits. Curbing youth vaping requires a broader ongoing effort:
- Tighter age verification by retailers selling vapes online.
- Restrictions on flavors, design, and packaging known to entice teenagers.
- Educational public health campaigns on potential harms and addiction risks of underage vaping.
- Promoting greater parental oversight of social media usage by adolescents.
For health groups, strictly banning brand influencer promotions that risk glorifying vaping to kids is an important piece in countering imagery intentionally designed to spread virally on social media. But a comprehensive strategy remains necessary to address this issue’s scale and complexity.
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