United States: Public health measures have curbed marketing spending by vaping manufacturers

A study[1] published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research analyzed more than 730,000 advertising occurrences for e-cigarettes on various media (TV, radio, print, internet). The results show that advertising spending peaked in 2018/2019, linked to the dramatic increase in vaping consumption among US adolescents and young adults at that time, followed by a sharp decline in 2020 with the implementation of several federal regulations.

The data on advertising expenditures for e-cigarettes, analyzed from January 1, 2016 to July 31, 2021, covered a sample of nearly 730,000 advertising occurrences broadcast across multiple media (83.9% on radio, 7.6% on television, 6.9% on the internet/social networks and 1.6% in the written press).

Significant advertising spending coincides with rising consumption

The study shows that e-cigarette manufacturers spent approximately $300 million on advertising between the last quarter of 2018 and the last quarter of 2019, ten times more than for the whole of 2020. The valuation for this year 2020 represented $$30 million, all media combined. The decline continued in 2021. For the authors of the study, the increase in spending is parallel to the growing evolution of consumption with this peak in the use of e-cigarettes among American adolescents/young adults before the regulation. The prevalence of e-cigarette use among U.S. adolescents and young adults increased at an alarming rate between 2017 and 2019. It more than doubled among high school students (from 11.7 % to 27.5 %) and tripled among middle school students (from 3.3 % to 10.5 %). Although prevalence of use declined in 2020 among adolescents and young adults, e-cigarettes remain the most commonly used nicotine product among adolescents and young adults.

Two other studies[2]-[3] examining trends in e-cigarette advertising spending came to similar conclusions. They found that spending by popular brand manufacturers (e.g., JUUL, Blu, and Vuse) was largely concentrated in print and television (TV) ads, and that it increased significantly in late 2018 and early 2019, contributing to the rise in teen and young adult use.

Significant investments in the written press

From January 2016 to July 2021, e-cigarette manufacturers concentrated their advertising spending mainly in the written press (58.9%) even though they only represented 1.6% of total occurrences, led by Sports Illustrated[4] ($10.6 million), the magazine Star with $9.97 million, Rolling Stone ($9.51 million), followed by the Washington Post with $8.74 million. The audiences of these media are mainly composed of men and people under 35 years old.

Over 20% (20.6%) of ad spending was allocated to commercials on national channels, led by AMC with $9 million and with a concentration on slots where popular movies or series were broadcast (e.g., King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Walking Dead). Finally, although radio ads represented 84% of occurrences, they only represented 14.4% of spending. The latter were mainly placed on news channels ($16 million) broadcast in urban areas where the female population is larger. This advertising placement strategy is explained by the lower cost than on TV or in the press but also by the large number of commercial breaks on this type of channel and the high audience. In 2019, it was estimated that 92% of Americans listened to the radio regularly.

A drop in advertising spending in 2020, linked to the implementation of health policies

It is worth noting that spending on all types of media saw a sharp decline in 2020. This decline continued into the first half of 2021, the end of the period studied. According to the authors of the study, this decline may be partly linked to the coronavirus pandemic but can also be explained by the implementation of several federal policies, including "Tobacco 21" which raises the minimum age for the sale of tobacco and nicotine products (including e-cigarettes) from 18 to 21 years old. In addition, the measures of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against vaping products, such as the ban on flavored cartridges (pods) (other than menthol) for e-cigarettes, the submission of e-cigarettes prior to their marketing[5]-[6] and the decision by several broadcast companies to no longer accept advertisements for vaping products played a role in this decline. The authors stress the importance of implementing public policies regulating tobacco and nicotine products to limit their use among young people.

The authors note that advertising trends will need to be monitored following FDA premarket review decisions on e-cigarettes and possible future enforcement actions.

Keywords: Vaping, marketing, e-cigarette, advertising, FDA, United States

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[1] Jenny E Ozga, PhD, Andrea M Stroup, PhD, MPH, MS, Melissa H Abadi, PhD, Marshall K Cheney, PhD, Anuja Majmundar, PhD, MBA, Kathleen A Garrison, PhD, Julia Chen-Sankey, PhD, MPP, Steve Shamblen, PhD, Christopher Dunlap, MS, Cassandra A Stanton, PhD, E-cigarette marketing expenditures in the US from 2016-2021: targeted media outlets geared toward people who are at increased risk for tobacco use, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2022;, ntac209, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac209

[2] Ali FRM, Marynak KL, Kim Y, et al. E-cigarette advertising expenditures in the United States, 2014-2018. Tobacco Control. 2020;29:e124-e126.

[3] Duan Z, Wang Y, Emery SL, et al. Exposure to e-cigarette TV advertisements among US youth and adults, 2013-2019. PLoS One. 2021;16(5):e0251203

[4] Tobacco-free generation, United States: Vaping more widespread among the most athletic teenagers, published September 6, 2022, accessed September 12, 2022

[5] Tobacco-free generation, Synthetic Nicotine, FDA Issues Over 100 Warnings, published on July 20, 2022, consulted on September 12, 2022

[6] Tobacco-free generation, FDA warns vaping manufacturers of illegal marketing, published October 8, 2021, accessed September 12, 2022