It was one of the topics that focused the European congress on tobacco, held last week in Madrid: the tobacco industry is expanding the search for clients not among the elderly, but among adolescents and young adults through so-called vapers (electronic cigarettes). And it is doing so using all available elements to attract these future smokers, from the most attractive flavors (watermelon, vanilla, banana, strawberry...) to the cigarette design: simple and elegant, shaped like a USB and embellished. with modern colors. The target audience: adolescents and young people, who feel "in fashion" puffing smoke (with or without nicotine).
In recent months, the industry has gone one step further in its search for new customer niches. Now, children from nine to eleven years old. As? Putting electronic cigarettes on the online market with shapes that attract, and a lot, children. Vapers decorated with cartoon figures (SpongeBob, for example), toys, sweets or children's drinks.
This has been denounced by Andrés Zamorano, president of the National Committee against Tobacco (CNPT), who warns that these are electronic cigarettes, many with liquid nicotine, available in sweet and fruity flavors, thinking of a child consumer. "You have to stop this drift that has started and do it emphatically," he says.
Along the same lines, the WHO states: “The multimillion-dollar tobacco and nicotine industries recruit new consumers in order to offer the maximum possible benefits to their investors and keep their business alive. More and more children and adolescents are falling victim to the tobacco and related industries, which are targeting them directly with advertising tactics and a new portfolio of dangerous health products. These industries move at high speed to launch new and existing products, using any means possible to expand their market share before being trapped by new regulations.”
The alarm was sounded last month by the French Ministry of Health, which warned that "in the face of increased regulation, manufacturers of vaping devices have become more creative in the very design of their devices" and are launching market increasingly quirky and colorful products "that capitalize on the popularity of miniature toys, fueled by TikTok and other social networks" and that clearly go "to young teenagers or even tweens."
According to an article published in Tobacco Control magazine, e-cigarettes that look like toys, candy, or other consumable products can give the impression that they are not dangerous, and therefore may entice younger people to experiment. “Many of these products contain nicotine, a highly addictive drug, especially among adolescents,” warns Zamorano.
These products, easily accessible on the internet, are available in many sweet and fruity flavors at attractive prices. And they have a capacity of around 8,000 puffs. Of course, they do not present any health warning and there is no mention of any prohibition of sale to minors during the purchase.
The authors of the article also point out that turning devices into collectibles may also encourage young people to buy multiple devices rather than one at a time, thus facilitating their entry into addiction. Vaping devices that look like popular children's toys can also hide the true function of the product and make it easier for young people to use it stealthily, especially at home or at school.
In November last year, the US federal agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued warning letters to five companies for the unauthorized marketing of 15 toy-shaped e-cigarettes. None of the manufacturers had submitted the required prior application for the marketing of these products. Many featured familiar youthful characters from TV shows, movies, and video games, such as The Simpsons or the Minions.
