United States: Manufacturers focus advertising efforts on menthol e-cigarettes

Advertisements for menthol e-cigarettes have increased sharply in the United States, following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on the marketing of e-liquids intended for vaping. This increase in advertising messages for menthol products is driven in particular by e-cigarette brands owned by major tobacco companies.

In February 2020, the FDA banned the sale of pre-filled flavored e-cigarettes, such as Juul, with the exception of tobacco- or menthol-flavored liquids. A study published in the journal Tobacco Control sought to determine whether this regulation was followed by a change in advertising in this area. Focusing on email ads, the researchers identified emails received by a representative sample of 67,000 U.S. households between November 2019 and May 2020.[1].

More than half of the ads are for menthol

The study identified 121 unique types of e-cigarette ads. At 78.6%, these ads promoted brands owned by major tobacco companies (RJ Reynolds, Japan Tobacco International, Altria, Philip Morris), highlighting the considerable weight of tobacco companies in the advertising effort to promote e-cigarettes. A large portion of these e-cigarette ads were sent in the period before the regulation (76%). The proportion of ads for menthol cigarettes increased sharply, from 22.5% of all ads before the regulation to 55.5%. At the same time, the proportion of ads for non-menthol flavored cigarettes fell from 39.4 to 13%. Finally, ads for e-cigarettes without mention of flavors remained relatively stable (38% versus 34.8%).

A shift in sales and advertising effort towards menthol

According to the authors of the study, if we take into account the fact that 97% of young e-cigarette consumers report using flavors, the partial restrictions do not seem sufficient to significantly reduce the general appeal of this type of product. The results of the study, like the sales data, show that manufacturers have adapted and that the regulation has shifted sales and advertising efforts in favor of available flavored products. Similarly, in addition to exempting tobacco and menthol flavors from the sales ban, disposable e-cigarettes, such as Puff, are not covered by the regulation. This regulatory blind spot has resulted in a sharp increase in the consumption of these products. Indeed, while in 2019, 0.7% of high school students consumed disposable e-cigarettes, this proportion was 5% in 2020.

A general restriction to lead to a decrease in the attractiveness of products

The study thus concludes on the need for more global regulation, taking into account all flavored products, including disposable cigarettes. However, this study, limited to the e-mail channel, does not reflect all of the manufacturers' advertising strategies. However, nearly seven out of ten middle and high school students said they had already been exposed to advertisements for electronic cigarettes, whether at a retailer, in the press, at the cinema, on the Internet or on television.[2]However, it has been shown that exposure to advertising for electronic cigarettes is linked to greater tolerance for these products, greater intentions to use them, and a lower perception of the health risks involved.

FT

[1] Do EK, O'Connor K, Diaz MC, et al, Relative increases in direct-to-consumer menthol ads following 2020 FDA guidance on flavored e-cigarettes, Tobacco Control Published Online First: 19 February 2022. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057069

[2] Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, E-Cigarets Ads and Youth, 03/23/2017, (accessed 02/21/2022)