REGULATIONS & YOUTH
New regulations and advertising tactics will steer youth away
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Juul Labs is under attack by the FDA due to
suspicion of intentional advertising of nicotine
products towards adolescents. Juul is well
aware of the investigation and is taking steps to
steer youth away from their products. In the fall
of 2018, Juul temporarily stopped the sale of
fruit flavored nicotine pods and temporarily
shut down their instagram and facebook
account.Juul believes this is the best way to
steer youth away. Teens making up the largest
social media population, so shutting down the
accounts close them off from advertising. Many
teens are attracted to the product due to the
hidden flavor of tobacco, so getting rid of fruit
flavored nicotine pods will surely lead
adolescents away. On October 1st of 2019,
Juul Labs officially raised the legal use age to
21 from 18. This will increase the difficulty for
children to come into reach with the product.
An e-cigarette's definition by law impacts the regulation of the product. This can lead to existence, sales and marketing restrictions, and youth access. Allowing exceptions for e-cigarettes, due to the product being the “better” alternative, may lead dual smokers to never quit. Laws that continue to identify e-cigarettes as ‘tobacco products’ or ‘smoking’ include e-cigarettes with the same laws and regulations as the typical cigarette. New laws, regulations, and tactics, are what industries need to steer youth away from e-cigarettes all together to ensure their safety.
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COMMENT:
I am unsure if solely changing advertising tactics is the answer, however, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Juul Labs’ marketing strategies clearly appeals to youth and changing regulations is a start to steering them away. Changing the age will honestly not do much, and may encourage kids to come into the reach of something they still can not have. However, if we continue to change the definition of what an e-cigarette is, we can associate it with regular cigarettes. This will make the product less attractive to youth.
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