What do you get when you mix deceptive youth marketing with addictive e-cigarettes? A $462 million settlement, that’s what. The latest company to cough up the cash is none other than Juul Labs, who will hand over more than $15 million to D.C. for their notorious playbook of marketing their products to unsuspecting teenagers. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb (D) held a virtual news conference with a pretty big smile on his face as he announced the largest-ever settlement under the city’s consumer protection law.
Schwalb likened Juul’s creepy tactics to classic Big Tobacco moves that everyone knows about. We’re talking “Joe Camel and other tools to make smoking look cool…” And he has a point. The company rolled out their wares in 2015, targeting impressionable young people with manipulative social media. The sneaky campaign made it painfully evident that Juul saw e-cigs as the new trendy thing. But their product is loaded with nicotine and a lot more addictive than they want you to know.
The more Juul pushed, the more teens puffed. The trend spiked in 2019, causing the company to initiate a “reset”. They took down their ads on TV, print, and digital, hoping to restore some semblance of public trust. But the damage was done. In a statement, Juul said the settlement will help provide “total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges,” and allow them to move forward. But we still have to wonder how much of that $15.2 million will go to anti-vaping programs and other efforts to diminish the damaging effects of e-cigs.
The settlement agreement has some pretty strict rules for Juul going forward. They can’t advertise on social media channels used by youths, on billboards, or on public transportation. The company is also forbidden from featuring anyone under the age of 35 in its ads. It’s a good start, given that D.C. sued Juul in 2019 and claimed the company allowed underage users to purchase their products online using absurdly ineffective age verification systems.
Juul’s shady behavior led to an explosion in teen smoking rates, reversing decades-long trends. The National Youth Tobacco Survey reported 2.5 million adolescent e-cig smokers in 2022, with most of them indulging in flavored products. In fact, last year, the D.C. council passed a bill banning menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco items, including e-cigarettes.
Despite this setback, Juul is still going strong. They settled with 47 states and territories and have provided over $1 billion in damage control. And hey, since their reset in 2019, underage use of their products is supposedly down a whopping 95% based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey. So, kids, remember: just say no to Juul. Because even though their marketing tactics are clever and tricky, the truth is that smoking e-cigarettes is far from harmless.
