page_title: Electronic cigarette and e-cigarette liquid marketing
section_title: E-cigarette liquid marketing
hierarchical_section_title: Electronic cigarette and e-cigarette liquid marketing / E-cigarette liquid marketing
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph of Twirly Pops and a photograph of lollipops.
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: It is difficult for consumers to know what e-cigarette products contain. For example, some e-cigarettes marketed as containing zero percent nicotine have been found to contain nicotine. A 2010 study indicated that "ENDS advertised as containing E-Cialis did not contain tadalafil (ie, Cialis) but contained its analogue amino-tadalafil, and that ENDS advertised as containing E-Rimonabant contained rimonabant and an oxidative impurity of rimonabant. These products contained nicotine, even though they were advertised as containing no nicotine." Such products state to contain Cialis, for erectile dysfunction, and rimonabant, for weight loss, but the efficacy or safety of containing these ingredients have not evaluated. A 2010 study suggested that e-cigarettes were marketed in 7764 different flavors. The use of marketing terms such as "e-juice" may further mislead consumers into believing that these products are harmless and safe for consumption. E-liquids are often flavored, with thousands of unique flavors advertised. Availability of flavors is among the most prominently cited reasons for youth e-cigarette use. Popular options, including fruit, candy, and dessert, are particularly appealing to children and youth, more appealing than tobacco-flavors. Further, adolescents perceive that e-cigarettes with flavors are less harmful than those with tobacco flavors, creating a potential misperception that e-cigarettes with flavors do not contain nicotine.
  E-liquid companies have used cartoons to promote their products. Many e-liquid companies have used cartoon imagery as part of their logo. This indicates that cartoon imagery is a strong part to their brand identity. Leading e-cigarette businesses have used novel marketing techniques such as creating products that resembles the labeling of cookies, juice boxes, and whipped cream. They are marketed in alluring flavors resembling candy, which could cause children to consider ingesting the liquid nicotine. Containers for e-liquids (the liquid used in vape products) can seem tempting to children of all ages for many reasons. For example, some e-liquids may have labeling or advertising that misleads youth into thinking the products are things they would eat or drink—like a juice box, piece of candy, or cookie. But these products are not meant for children, the US FDA stated in 2018.
  E-cigarette advertisements featuring unicorns are used to market a variety of unicorn-themed e-liquids. In e-cigarette advertisements, the e-liquid flows out from the unicorn in the appearance of a rainbow of colors. The marketed unicorn-themed flavors were unicorn milk, unicorn cream, unicorn juice, unicorn magic, unicorn blood, unicorn poop, unicorn piss, unicorn tears, unicorn puke, unicorn vomit, unicorn spew, unicorn breath, unicorn jizz, unicorn porn, unicorn sprinkles, unicorn dust, unicorn cake, unicorn horn, unicorn slayer, unicorn killer, unicorn revenge, unicorn roar, and unicorn clouds. The Vapor Chef, on their website in 2016, described their unicorn poop e-liquid: "…everyone knows Unicorns are made of cupcakes and rainbows! This tastes like blueberry cupcakes with white chocolate frosting and a raspberry on top!" In an interview with The New York Times in 2015, a teenager characterized the unicorn puke as "every flavor Skittle compressed into one." Youth-oriented flavors such as unicorn vomit, is an area of concern.
  A lot of products are marketed as being sweet, or provide the taste resembling sweetness and could include sweeteners. For instance, 37 e-liquid samples were analyzed and all the samples contained sucrose which widely ranged from 0.76 to 72.93 μg/g. It was unclear the source of the sucrose. Sucrose may be toxic because it generates aldehydes when heated at high enough temperatures, is an area of concern. Sweet flavors could be more enticing. The flavors considered more sweet were more enticing than non-sweet flavors among young adult frequent e-cigarette users, in a 2016 study.
  A 2014 policy statement by the UK's Faculty of Public Health has stated, "A key concern for everyone in pub
caption: The US Food and Drug Administration stated, in a warning letter to Omnia E-Liquid on May 1, 2018, that the labeling and/or advertising of the e-liquid looks very similar to lollipops that are marketed toward, and/or appealing to, children, such as Unicorn Pops, Whirly Pop, and Twirl Pops lollipops.[350] For example, advertising slogans for the e-liquid included: "YOUR FAVORITE RAINBOW FLAVORED LOLLIPOP!"; "Who doesn’t love this candy!!??"; "Trick or Treat!! Wouldn’t you love this in your bag tonight!?!?"; and "YOU LIKE THIS [referring to a Whirly Pop lollipop]?? You will love Twirly Pop."[350] They stated that the Twirly Pop e-liquid has a strong scent almost identical to Unicorn Pops lollipops, and that the two products had been sold packaged together.[350]
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