An End to E-Cigarette Advertising?

posted on 9.30.2019

An outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths has led to increased government scrutiny of e-cigarette products and could jeopardize advertising for vaping products. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported statistics in September showing 805 confirmed and probable cases of lung illness and 12 deaths associated with vaping in the United States. The CDC is urging U.S. consumers to stop using e-cigarette products.

The Hill reported last month that some members of Congress are calling on the FDA to remove all e-cigarettes from the market until they can be proven safe. 

Amid such health concerns, the CBS broadcast network and several cable TV channels have already voluntarily banned vaping product advertising.

A U.S. House subcommittee sent letters to four e-cigarette manufacturers last month asking them to pull their advertising across all platforms after one manufacturer, Juul, did so.

While vaping products are legal to advertise in the U.S., these new health concerns are casting a shadow over vaping and could spell the end of broadcast advertising of such products altogether.

After all, there is historic precedent for doing so.

The federal government banned broadcast advertising of traditional tobacco cigarettes in 1970 after numerous government and clinical studies linked use of cigarettes with an increased risk of cancer.

Vaping product use by U.S. high school students rose 21 percent between 2017 and 2018 according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Citing increased teenage use of flavored e-cigarettes, Michigan and New York have banned such products outright and the Food and Drug Administration has plans to ban nontobacco flavors from the market.

"We intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes to reverse the deeply concerning epidemic of youth e-cigarette use that is impacting children, families, schools and communities," said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

"We will not stand idly by as these products become an on-ramp to combustible cigarettes or nicotine addiction for a generation of youth."

TAB will continue to keep Texas stations informed as new developments in this advertising category occur.

Questions? Contact TAB’s Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.

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