Have Anti-Vaping Campaigns Gone Too Far?
When the PMTA deadline was still looming, anti-vaping ads were everywhere. We asked back then whether they worked, or just repeated the mistakes of earlier prevention programs.
Short version: We fully support keeping vapes away from anyone under 21. We objected to scare tactics, and to one ad that showed dangerous ways to destroy a device with a lithium-ion battery inside.
Lessons from D.A.R.E.
If you’re old enough to vape, you probably remember D.A.R.E. and its “Just say no” message. It did not hold up well: a 1998 University of Maryland review funded by the National Institute of Justice concluded that D.A.R.E. did not work to reduce substance use. We worried that exaggerated anti-vaping ads would fall flat the same way.
Where Truth Initiative came from
Truth Initiative traces back to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which ended lawsuits brought by dozens of states against the major cigarette companies. The companies agreed to pay about $206 billion over the first 25 years, and settlement money founded the group now called Truth Initiative.
States can spend those payments as they please, and most put only a small share toward tobacco prevention.
The trouble with #DITCHJUUL
Truth Initiative’s #DITCHJUUL ad urged viewers to get rid of their JUUL devices. We understood the goal, but not the execution.
The spot showed a JUUL screwed to a block of wood tied to a balloon, then devices tossed into a pool, dragged behind a car and thrown off a building. Each one holds a lithium-ion battery, and any experienced vaper will tell you never to puncture, crush or smash one.
Battery safety: A punctured or crushed lithium-ion battery can overheat, vent hot gas, catch fire or explode. Don’t put a vape or its battery in the trash or recycling bin; take it to a battery drop-off or household hazardous waste site. Our battery safety guide has more.
What we argued for instead
Anyone with a phone can fact-check an ad in seconds, so exaggeration costs a campaign its credibility. We called for honest conversations between parents and the young people in their lives, and urged adult vapers to tell legislators what they thought of proposed flavor and online sales bans.
Where things stand now
Since December 2019, federal law has set 21 as the minimum age for all tobacco and vaping products, and every vaping product needs FDA premarket authorization through the PMTA process. Flavor rules vary by state and city and change often. Our position hasn’t changed: vapes are for adults only, and lithium-ion batteries deserve careful handling right through to disposal.
WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. For adults 21+ only.