The design of some electronic cigarettes directly targets children

With the advent of disposable e-cigarettes, the look of vaping devices has rapidly transformed from discreet JUUL-like designs to increasingly quirky and colorful toy-like products, including soda bottles, ice cream cones and cartoon characters. These products are capitalizing on the popularity of miniature toys, fueled by TikTok and other social media platforms that are popular with young people. By manipulating device design in this way, manufacturers are directly targeting young teens and even tweens.

Regulation of vaping products to limit their initiation by young people has largely focused, to date, on the flavors or packaging of e-liquids that appeal to children. Faced with increased regulation, manufacturers of vaping devices have become more creative in the design of their devices.

Examples of disposable electronic cigarettes for sale on the Internet

A misperception of the danger of these products for children

According to an article published in the journal Tobacco Control[1], e-cigarettes that look like toys, candy, or other consumable products can give the impression that the products are harmless and may therefore encourage young people to experiment with them. Most of these products contain nicotine, a highly addictive drug, especially among young adolescents.

These products, easily accessible on the internet, come in a wide range of sweet and fruity flavors (iced watermelon, honeyed pineapple, grape, etc.) at attractive prices. They have a capacity of approximately 8,000 puffs and have a very high nicotine concentration, on average 30mg/ml. These products do not have any health warnings and no ban on sale to minors is mentioned at the time of purchase.

The authors of the article also point out that turning the devices into collectibles can also encourage young people to buy multiple devices rather than just one at a time, thus facilitating their entry into addiction. Vaping devices that resemble popular children's toys can also hide the true function of the product and make it easier for young people to use them surreptitiously, especially at home or at school.

These products in the sights of the US Food and Drug Administration

In November 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters to five companies for unauthorized marketing of 15 toy-like e-cigarettes. None of the manufacturers had filed the pre-marketing applications required for the products.[2].

The unauthorized products described in the warning letters include e-cigarettes designed to look like toys and electronic products appealing to youth, such as glow sticks, Nintendo Game Boys and walkie-talkies. They feature characters familiar to youth from television shows, movies and video games, such as “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Squid Game,” “Rick and Morty,” “Minions” and “Baby Bus.” These products may also be imitation foods, such as lollipops.

For the director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, " The design of these products is a blatant attempt to target children. It is hard to believe that adults using e-cigarettes in an effort to quit smoking need a cartoon character on the front of the product to be successful. ".

The need to better regulate and make these products less attractive to children

In response to the growth of the e-cigarette market among young people, several countries are proposing to make vaping products less attractive, whether by changing the design, taxing these products more or banning flavors, all of which are complementary. Recently, in Germany[3], the federal drug control delegate has proposed imposing neutral packaging for these products, similar to what is done for manufactured cigarettes. This proposal also aims to break the attractiveness of these products in terms of colours and graphics as well as their shape. A similar proposal was put forward by Dutch parliamentarians in early 2023, in order to break the "glamor" effect of these products and make them less attractive to young people.[4].

Around thirty countries around the world have opted for a more radical approach and have completely banned the sale of e-cigarettes for health reasons and in particular because of their appeal to younger generations.

Keywords: vaping, disposable e-cigarettes, puffs, marketing, toys

AE

[1] Tatum Z, Leventhal A, Wipfli HL Playtime: vaping devices designed as cartoons and toys may appeal to kids Tobacco Control Published Online First: 29 March 2023. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057908

[2] Press release, FDA Warns Firms for Selling Illegal E-cigarettes That Look Like Toys, Food, and Cartoon Characters, FDA, published November 16, 2022, accessed April 11, 2023

[3] Generation without tobacco, Germany's Drug Enforcement Commissioner Wants to Make E-Cigarettes Neutral, published on April 5, 2023, consulted on April 11, 2023

[4] Generation without tobacco, Dutch MPs want to break the appeal of e-cigarettes, published March 14, 2023, accessed April 11, 2023