page_title: Electronic cigarette and e-cigarette liquid marketing
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Electronic cigarette and e-cigarette liquid marketing / Background
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: アイコスストア梅田を撮影。 English: An IQOS store in Japan.
context_page_description: Electronic cigarettes are marketed to smoking and non-smoking men, women, and children as being safer than traditional cigarettes. E-cigarette businesses have considerably accelerated their marketing spending. All of the large tobacco businesses are engaging in the marketing of e-cigarettes. For the majority of the large tobacco businesses these products are quickly becoming a substantial part of the total advertising spending. E-cigarette businesses have a vested interest in maximizing the number of long-term product users. The entrance of traditional transnational tobacco businesses in the marketing of such products is a serious threat to restricting tobacco use. E-cigarette businesses have been using intensive marketing strategies like those used to publicize traditional cigarettes in the 1950s and 1960s. While advertising of tobacco products is banned in most countries, television and radio e-cigarette advertising in several countries may be indirectly encouraging traditional cigarette use.
  E-cigarette advertisements have had marketing messages containing pseudoscientific health claims.
context_section_description: Understanding the role of electronic cigarettes requires understanding the long history of tobacco use in the US, including the role of nicotine delivery, the multiple examples of "reduced-harm" products and associated health claims, and the impact of using tobacco products on the public's health. Since the late nineteenth century, when the "modern" cigarette came into use, scientists and public health officials have linked cigarette smoking to a remarkable number of adverse effects, and it is now recognized as the primary cause of premature death in the US. Correspondingly, for a century, manufacturers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and public health leaders have promoted or recommended product changes that might remove some of the harmful elements in cigarette smoke. E-cigarettes are among the latest products.
  E-cigarettes are designed for users to inhale nicotine, flavors, and other additives through an aerosol (vapor). The claims and marketing strategies employed by the e-cigarette businesses, and the efforts made by others to develop scientific and regulatory tools to deal with these new products, both contribute to the current discourse on e-cigarettes. According to a 2016 US Surgeon General report, many lessons for assessing the potential (and future) consequences of these products can be learned from examining the relevant experiences of the past century, especially the introduction of novel products (including e-cigarettes as well as other tobacco and nicotine products) and the claims of reduced exposure to toxicants made by the industry and elsewhere.
  Manufacturers can make the nicotine solution flavorless, but many businesses add flavors, ranging from the sophisticated (mint chocolate truffle and whiskey) to the baldly juvenile (bubble gum, gummy bears, and cotton candy). A US congressional report from spring 2014 accused e-cigarette manufacturers of using these flavors to appeal to youth, a marketing strategy that is prohibited for tobacco cigarettes because it is so effective at attracting young users. In contrast to tobacco products, e-cigarette sales were not age-restricted in 2014, and in 2012 an estimated 1.78 million students in grades 6–12 had tried the devices.
  A 2015 review stated, "As tobacco consumption is being curbed, there is a growing demand for cessation. Pharmacological treatment of nicotine addiction remains an active area of research. There are many nicotine preparations (nicotine gums, patches, e-cigarettes and inhalational agents) that are freely available in most parts of the world. These products are being heavily promoted and marketed as magical remedies."
  As a component of a public relations scheme, one of the tobacco industry's approaches is to finance independent research. For example, Philip Morris International created and financed the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. The organization states that it will assist with the idea of "ending smoking in this generation by eliminating the use of cigarettes and other forms of combustible tobacco." In September 2018, Philip Morris International stated that it will donate $960 million over a 12-year period to the organization. $80 million each year is approximately 0.1% of Philip Morris International's income and below 1% of its earnings. However, Philip Morris International allocates billions on various types of promotion and lobbying for the tobacco industry. The organization cannot be considered independent from Philip Morris International, as of September 2018. "Absent true independence achieved through structurally separating the funding, priorities and management of the Foundation from the existing prearrangement that clearly benefits Yach and PMI, the FSFW may function operationally to advance and amplify tobacco industry messaging and potentially exacerbate conflicts within public health," according to the journal Tobacco Control in 2018. Philip Morris International states that the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World intent is to advance the end of smoking, but tobacco control advocates are skeptical, stating that Philip Morris Internat
caption: Exterior view of IQOS store in Japan.
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