US: Juul bought advertising space on children's websites

When it launched its product in 2015, e-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc promoted its products on teen-targeted websites for Nickelodeon Magazine, Cartoon Network and Seventeen. A lawsuit was filed Feb. 12 by the Massachusetts attorney general's office. The facts, based on an investigation that spanned more than a year, contradict Juul executives' repeated claims that the company never intentionally targeted teens. That claim comes after the company's products have become wildly popular among high school students in recent years, cornering 73% of the U.S. vaping market. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who filed the lawsuit, said the company worked with online advertisers to buy space on websites "very attractive to children, middle and high school teenagers and underage students," including educational websites such as coolmath-games.com and socialstudiesforkids.com. The attorney general’s office said the ad purchases began in June 2015, when the product was launched, and continued into 2016. The office also said Juul had the ability to exclude certain websites, a sort of “blacklist” from promoting its products. It did not do so. In addition to online ads, evidence from the investigation suggests that Juul hired an advertising agency before its product launch. The agency reportedly proposed an ad campaign that portrayed the company as a “technology goods company.” The sales pitch was that Juul e-cigarettes were “better than traditional cigarettes.” The strategy was to contrast the Juul vaping device with items such as boom boxes or retro cell phones that are familiar to adults but outdated to younger people, with the slogan "Everything changes, eventually. ©Tobacco Free Generation

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