Kandypens e-cigarette condemned for targeting young people

Kandypens has been fined $1.2 million for marketing to young people through social media and placing vaping products in music videos.

In California, e-cigarettes are subject to the same laws as other tobacco products, including with respect to marketing and promotion. In particular, targeting young people under the age of 21 is prohibited by specific provisions.

Product Placement and Social Media Marketing

It was for having transgressed these laws and targeted young people that the company Kandypens was sentenced on Friday, April 16 to pay a fine of 1.2 million dollars [1]. This online sales company of vaping products carried out marketing actions targeting young people on YouTube and Instagram, and monetized the placement of its products in video clips by DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber. In addition, it did not require any proof of age for the purchase of e-cigarettes and e-liquids on its site.

In addition to its fine, Kandypens was also ordered to include an age limit for access to its sales site, to cease all advertising on entertainment sites frequented by minors, to no longer pay young people under 21 to promote its products and to remove all promotional items bearing its brand.

“Our message to the vaping industry is clear: If you target youth through your marketing and advertising, and allow those youth to access your products through other means, we will hold you accountable,” the Los Angeles district attorney said Monday, April 19.

Sales techniques modeled on tobacco

Unsurprisingly, the vaping industry, which increasingly corresponds to the tobacco industry, is adopting all the already proven circumvention techniques, particularly in the field of hidden marketing. It also relies on one of the oldest recipes used by cigarette manufacturers to attract young people: the use of flavors [2]. Whether fruity or mentholated, the flavor of these flavors is one of the main keys to the experimentation and adoption of e-cigarettes reported by young people. The role of flavors, and particularly menthol, in the initiation and adoption of cigarettes by adolescents has also been amply documented (increase in addictiveness and withdrawal difficulties, renewal of the smoking population, health impact on the African-American population, etc.) [3]. The increase in the consumption of menthol cigarettes and the spread of electronic cigarettes have been the two main growth drivers of the nicotine market in the United States over the last ten years.

The consequences of vaping on the body are not yet fully established, but scientific evidence is beginning to accumulate and suggests many health damages. The use of electronic cigarettes could be associated with risks of cardiovascular diseases similar to those due to smoked tobacco [4]. However, many misconceptions about the consequences of vaping circulate among young people, who consider, for example, electronic cigarettes as less addictive than traditional cigarettes [5].

As of 2020, five US states (Montana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York) have already completely banned the sale of vaping products.

Keywords: Kandypens - vaping - youth - justice - social networks - flavors - electronic cigarette

[1] NBC Los Angeles, LA City Attorney Announces Injunction to Stop Vaping Company Marketing to Kids. Published on April 19, 2021, accessed on April 21, 2021. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/la-city-attorney-announces-injunction-to-stop-vaping-company-marketing-to-kids/2576994/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_knbc_twt_shr

[2] Génération Sans Tabac, Flavors are entry vectors in nicotine products, both tobacco and vaping. Published on April 23, 2020, consulted on April 21, 2021. https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/les-aromes-sont-des-vecteurs-dentree-dans-les-produits-de-la-nicotine-tabac-comme-vapotage/

[3] Benowitz N, Samet J. The Threat of Menthol Cigarettes to US Public Health, June 9, 2011 N Engl J Med 2011; 364:2179-2181 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1103610 https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/cigarette-electronique-impliquee-cigarette-maladies-vasculaires-tabagisme/

[4] Generation Without Tobacco, The electronic cigarette, as implicated as the cigarette in cardiovascular diseases linked to smoking. Published on May 4, 2020, accessed on April 21, 2021. https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/cigarette-electronique-impliquee-cigarette-maladies-vasculaires-tabagisme/

[5] Generation Without Tobacco, Perceptions of e-cigarettes among young adults in the United States. Published on August 4, 2020, accessed on April 21, 2021.https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/perceptions-cigarette-electronique-jeunes-adultes-aux-etats-unis/

National Committee Against Smoking |