Vaping rates have soared in recent years, with disposable e-cigarettes becoming increasingly popular amongst new and current vapers. There is however, a growing concern that vaping companies are marketing their products towards the younger generation.
At the end of a long and stressful day, the one thing most people crave more than anything is to crawl into their bed and unwind from the events of the day. Though before that, a normal bedtime routine may include brushing your teeth, putting pyjamas on and maybe even a quick scroll through your phone.
But for Grace*, bedtime is the prime time to vape.
‘It’s just really cosy and it relaxes me before I go to sleep… although 20 minutes later I’ll be looking for it again. I’ll also vape in the mornings when I wake up.’
Grace Jones, 21, from Paignton, tried her first vape at the age of 14. ‘My friend had bought one and I really loved the flavour.’ Since then, Grace has continued vaping, and she is definitely not alone in this habit. She is one of the over three million people that currently vape in the UK alone.
E-cigarettes, such as vapes, are devices containing nicotine, that were introduced to the market as a way to help people quit smoking. The promotion of vaping has also been recommended in The Khan Review, published in 2022, which is an independent review setting recommendations for the government to make smoking obsolete by 2030. Despite this, the National Health Service (NHS) has said that ‘vaping is not recommended for non-smokers and young people, because it is not completely harmless.’
Currently in the UK, 18 is the legal age to buy vaping products but, according to the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Youth 2022 survey, youth vaping is at an all-time high and rates have more than doubled between 2021 and 2022. But it’s not just vaping that is the issue, the popularity of disposable vaping devices amongst the younger generation is becoming a rising concern. The survey also found that, in England, 52.8% of current vapers between 11-18-years-old use disposable vapes, compared with only 7.8% in 2021 and 5.3% in 2020.
Despite also having smoked in the past, Grace completely stopped a year ago in favour of vaping. She said a main reason for only using disposable vapes are the flavours, ‘it’s just a nicer version of smoking, because the taste and smell of cigarettes aren’t very nice, so the different flavours of vapes definitely enticed me.’ Grace also said that she prefers disposables because if she gets bored of a flavour, it is easy to test out others, ‘I’ve tried absolutely loads of them because there's so many to choose from.’
Most vaping brands have a range of different flavours available. In 2021, the ASH-Youth survey found that, amongst 11-18-year-olds vapers, fruit flavours were the most popular (51.5%), followed by menthol/mint (13%) and chocolate/sweets (9.3%). It was also found that the most common reasons for non-smoking 11-18-year-olds to start vaping was to ‘give it a try’ (48.8%), followed by ‘liking the flavours’ (37.2%, ITC Youth Survey, 2021). It is a growing concern that more young people who have never smoked, are using vapes for purposes unrelated to their intended purpose. Dr Lion Shahab, Professor of Health and Psychology at University College London, said that before the popularity of disposable vapes, there was ‘little evidence that adolescents or young adults were using e-cigarettes. With the latest push of these puff bars which have a sweet taste, with flavours and colours appealing to younger users, we have seen a rise in their use among younger kids.’
But it is not just the flavours. The variety of bright and bold colours of vape packaging can be very eye-catching too – unlike cigarettes, they are allowed to be on-display on shop counters. Dr Richard Warr, Senior Lecturer in Consumer Behaviour at the University of Gloucestershire, believes that it is difficult to say whether this is a genuine marketing strategy from vaping companies to specifically target young people, as all ages can be attracted to bright colours. However, he notes that ‘research shows that younger consumers, in particular, find appeal in bright colours. The use of them by vaping companies does suggest an attempt to appeal to young people.’ The effects of packaging upon consumer behaviour have been proven to have a massive impact on product popularity and sales. In 2017, the UK fully implemented standardised plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco products. With aims to reduce the appeal of tobacco products, and prevent tobacco companies from using packaging to market their products to young people. Immediately after standardised packaging was implemented – alongside tax increases – the Tobacco Control Research Group found that cigarette sales declined by 20 million per month.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is an organisation that works on behalf of local authorities to help improve and support local councils. They have recently spoken out against the ‘child-friendly’ packaging that vapes come in and are calling for new regulations about how vapes are displayed and marketed – this comes after a rise in underage vape sales since last year. For example, in August 2022, Trading Standards found that six shops in Gloucestershire sold vapes to 15/16-year-olds, however no retailers were prosecuted. It was noted in their report that the colours, flavours and cheap prices are making disposable vapes appealing to under-18s. Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said, ‘Vapes need to be out-of-sight and out-of-reach of children in the same way as cigarettes. It is not right that stores are able to prominently display vaping paraphernalia for all to see, such as in a shop window.’
Several local councils have also said that greater resources are needed to be able to regulate and deal with non-compliant products. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request heard that, for Wiltshire Council, resources are a ‘continuing challenge for Local Authorities in this area of work.’ Bristol City Council (FOI) also said they would ‘welcome additional resources and support.’ John Herriman, CEO, Chartered Trading Standards told ASH, ‘We fully support the proposals to ensure there is sufficient funding for local Trading Standards teams, to deal with what is an increasingly significant issue.’
Despite this, no vaping company has legally been found to be explicitly marketing their products to children in the UK. However, in the US in 2022, the vaping conglomerate Juul was found guilty of marketing their products towards school-aged children. Despite their denial, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claimed that Juul products played a ‘disproportionate role in youth vaping.’ When asked about Juul’s operations in the UK, they responded that they are currently ‘unable to get an on-record statement.’ Instead, they referred to their ‘Youth Prevention Policy’, which states Juul is focused on helping adult smokers and preventing underage usage.
Here in the UK, there are rules on the restrictions surrounding the advertising of electronic cigarettes, as part of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). This means direct or indirect advertisement, or promotion of e-cigarettes and refill containers are banned in certain media – such as on TV and radio. For e-cigarettes, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) states that they shouldn’t be advertised on ‘any platform where more than 25% of the audience is under 18.’ Despite this, advertising e-cigarettes on billboards or shop posters is not controlled by the TPD at all. Harry Tattan-Birch, Research Fellow in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health at University College London (UCL), believes that the issues with this sort of advertising is that it is impossible to only target older people, when advertisements are in places that anyone can see. An evidence report, compiled by Cancer Research UK in 2021, on e-cigarette marketing found that the proportion of young people who had never smoked or vaped noticed e-cigarette marketing at consistently higher rates than adults who smoked – which is the opposite to the desired outcome.
Harry Tattan-Birch also highlights the difficulty when it comes to the social media marketing of e-cigarettes. Despite being against the law, it is hard to regulate due to ‘unpaid media.’ This is when average people post about using the product. ‘Companies get this free advertising that can’t be regulated without it infringing on people’s freedom of speech. So it is a very difficult aspect to regulate.’
Additionally, as part of the TPD, company websites/retailer sites are allowed to post factual information regarding e-cigarettes, but not allowed to advertise or promote them – but some companies seem to be getting around these rules. Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive for ASH, previously told The Guardian about her concern that many vaping companies are ‘promoting them [vapes] as an enjoyable experience in their own right.’ Elf Bar’s official slogan is ‘Make it Elf. Enjoy yourself’ - which has strong implications that vaping is a pleasurable experience in itself.
Elf Bars are currently one of the most popular disposable vaping brands amongst the younger demographics within the UK, and they are also one of the strongest. Vapes are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which requires vapes to meet certain standards before they can be legally sold in the UK. Elf Bars use the maximum limit of 20mg of nicotine in each one. A recent survey by The Tab, surveyed 18,000 university students across the UK and over a quarter admitted to being addicted to Elf Bars, despite 51% never having smoked. But Elf Bars are not liked by everyone, and the company has recently been called out by Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for the UK. He told the Health and Social Care Committee that Elf Bars are the ‘kind of products which look as if they’re being marketed at children.’ He also said that ‘marketing vaping, an addictive product to children is utterly unacceptable.’
However, Harry Tattan-Birch thinks that issues surrounding the marketing of vapes to the younger demographic is more complex than just colours and flavours, as it seems that the rise in vaping seems to be correlated to the decline in cigarette use. ‘You have to consider that for a lot of people using vapes, even young people, they would otherwise be using cigarettes.’
Grace, 21, believes that if vaping wasn’t an option she would go back to smoking. However, she admits that she vapes more than she ever used to smoke. ‘One vape probably lasts me around two days, but I buy them on a ‘2-4-10' deal, so I buy around four to six per week.’
It is also this cheap price point of disposable vapes which is drawing more young people in, and there has been a sharp increase in the amount of these vapes being bought. In 2021, the UK’s Number 1 online vaping platform, Indejuice, found that there was a 279% increase in the sale of disposable vapes on their website between July – September 2021 and October – December 2021. The two brands that accounted for a significant amount of the sales were Geek Bar and Elf Bar. A press release by ASH has called for disposable vapes to be made less affordable. Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, said: ‘Children who vape mainly use cheap disposables, which can be bought for under a fiver. They could easily be made less affordable in the March Budget, with the introduction of a specific tax for single use disposable vapes.’
Harry Tattan-Birch understands that young people are drawn in by ‘minimising that initial cost to them’ but believes a tax on disposable vapes is not the correct route. ‘For the tax to work, they will have to be being sold illegally to begin with.’ Instead, he believes the main issue is that the age of sale regulations are not being enforced. The UK Vaping Industry Association has also said the solution is to enforce current regulations on retailers and distributers. They believe the problem lies with those who are complicit in the underage sale of vapes and criticises the ‘lack of proper scrutiny on major online marketplaces’ – not with the packaging of vapes themselves.
With youth vaping still on the rise, it is uncertain whether the popularity of disposable vapes will slow down anytime soon. But it is clear that sooner, rather than later, action needs to be taken to combat the increase of youth vaping. With growing pressures from organisations, charities and even government officials – it seems to be only a matter of time. While many people believe vapes are undeniably appealing to young people, it is also important to consider the potential alternative, which is more young people taking up smoking. But maybe it is also time to examine whether the current UK regulations on the selling and marketing of e-cigarettes are effective.
As Harry Tattan-Birch noted, ‘there’s no end to when and where you can use a vape – whether you are inside, at work or even in the middle of the night.’ But for Grace, the next time she vapes will be as she settles in for a good night sleep.
Elf Bar and Geek Bar have been approached for comment.
*Name changed for privacy.
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