California sues e-cigarette maker Juul over ads targeting youth
California sues Juul for ‘running Big Tobacco’s playbook’ using brightly colored ads and attractive models to market its trendy e-cigarettes to teens
- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit over Juul Labs’s advertising campaigns in California on Monday
- The state is the second to sue Juul for using deceptive marketing to entice underage users to buy its addictive nicotine products
- Juul has stopped selling all but its menthol and tobacco flavors after revelations that its brand and mint flavors are among the most popular among teens
- The suits come amid an outbreak of vaping-linked lung illnesses that have killed over 40 Americans including at least one as young as 17
California on Monday sued the nation’s biggest e-cigarette maker, alleging that Juul Labs deliberately marketed and sold its flavored nicotine products to teenagers.
The lawsuit from California’s attorney general is the latest legal action against Juul, the multi-billion dollar vaping startup that has been widely blamed for helping spark the teen vaping craze.
California is the second state to sue the company, following a North Carolina lawsuit in May. Illinois, Massachusetts and several other states are also investigating the company.
A Juul spokesman said the company’s intended customers are adult smokers, adding ‘we do not intend to attract underage users.’
Under intense pressure, the company has suspended its US advertising and halted sales of all but two of its flavors, menthol and tobacco. Additionally, the company shuttered its social media accounts, tightened age verification for online sales and replaced its CEO.
San Francisco-based Juul is the best-selling e-cigarette brand in the US controlling roughly two-thirds of the retail market.
California is suing the nation’s biggest e-cigarette maker, alleging Juul Labs deliberately targeted teenagers with its early marketing campaigns, according to a court filing made Monday (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The lawsuit from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argues that Juul’s past marketing efforts online and in major US cities used bright colors and youthful models to attract underage users. Federal law bans sales to those under 18.
California officials said they are seeking money to help pay for anti-vaping advertisements.
‘Juul ran big tobacco´s playbook and the results were predictable – millions of teens and young Americans now use their product,’ said Becerra, at a Sacramento press conference announcing the lawsuit.
‘In California, we will not allow kids to be lured in by deceptive practices.’
The lawsuit also alleges that Juul previously:
- failed to adequately verify customers´ ages and identities on its website
- shipped products to users who gave fake names, such as ‘Beer Can’
- distributed free products at concerts and festivals that did not include a mandatory warning label
The lawsuit came as White House officials said President Donald Trump is backing away from a plan to remove most vaping flavors from the market.
The officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said Trump is concerned the flavor ban could alienate voters he needs to win re-election.
‘We’re not going to wait for the federal government’ Becerra said.
Underage vaping has reached what health officials call epidemic levels. In the latest government survey, one in four high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month, despite federal law banning sales to those under 18.
E-cigarettes typically heat a solution that contains nicotine, which makes cigarettes and e-cigarettes addictive.
And a recent Reuters investigation suggested that Juul knew its formula could be even more potent and addictive than the dose of nicotine delivered by combustible cigarettes.
Former employees told the wire service that the Juul focused on making the first hit of its device addictive.
Reuters even discovered that the company began planning a device to throttle the nicotine delivery of Juul, but never brought that limiting mechanism to market.
A national survey on youth smoking and vaping published earlier this month found that Juul was far and away the most popular brand among high school and middle school students.
Alongside sweet and fruity flavors, high school students ranked Juul’s best-selling ‘mint’ flavor as a favorite, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found.
Officials warned, as a result, that the talks of a federal flavor ban would not work unless they specifically included mint flavors like Juul’s.
In response, Juul swiftly pulled the products from stores and its online shop.
Now, it faces yet another onslaught of accusations for addicting scores of American teens to nicotine.
Source: Read Full Article