How did vape companies market to teens?

Strawberry shortcake, gummy bear, lychee ice, mango madness. These all sound tasty
right? Plenty of teens agree, I mean how can someone deny gummy bears? These are not only
delicious snack items but they are all vape flavors. Not only do they have deliciously flavored
vapes, but they are also very sleek and discrete, being easy to hide from parents. There has been
an increase around the world of several youths/teens smoking vapes, even as low as middle
schoolers. But we cannot blame the teens for indulging in vaping rather we need to unearth how
these vaping companies are targeting them.

Vaping companies had several methods on how to cater their products to young adults.
One method they used was to infiltrate schools.“Congressional investigators found Juul Labs
‘deployed a sophisticated program’ paying schools as much as $10,000 each to let company
representatives deliver its message directly to children. In at least one presentation, without
teachers or parents present, a company representative showed kids how to use a Juul ecigarette”(Turner). Companies would host programs and fund the school(s) to encourage
teenagers on consuming vapes. “Several e-cigarette companies are offering scholarships, ranging
from $250 to $5,000, that involve asking students to write essays on topics like whether vaping
could have potential benefits, according to the Associated Press.”(“4 Marketing Tactics Ecigarette Companies Use to Target Youth”). Based on the essays, young adults could rely on
vapes being beneficial since the essays were credited by people in their same age criteria. A lot
of these essays would ask if vaping might be a safer alternative than traditional tobacco, basically
saying that vaping is a less harmful and better solution than other ways of smoking.

Another method used by vape companies is using social media to promote their product
as an opportunity to promote their product so young adults can consume it and consider buying
vapes. Companies would publish posts of their vapes, which would strongly impact kids’
preferences based on the posts they browse online, since “even just a very short viewing of
Instagram posts affected teens.”(Digitale) “The study also asked teens about their habitual social
media use and found that those who used social media more intensely were more willing to try
vaping. The scientists’ assessment of intense social-media use included such factors as checking
social media accounts when bored, using social media at the expense of other obligations or
instead of sleeping, and feeling obligated to keep social accounts updated.”(Digitale) Young
adults tend to frequently look at their social accounts, so it gives vape companies the chance to
advertise on social media, which draws young kids’ attention. It is like when you hear a catchy
commercial on the radio, even though it is annoying it gets stuck in your head.

In addition to social media ads, there are also trends on social media that are set to make
kids want to try it. Instagram, a very popular social media platform has hashtags where pools of
photos can be seen under a category. Things like #vape #vapetrends #vapetricks are all tags
where influencers and kids all do trends and post there. A big vape influencer that goes by the
name @dianggrika on Instagram does all these cool tricks and makes videos that go viral, she
also promotes certain vapes. Not till recently have organizations cracked down on these social
media posts, but there are still so many to this day.

A third method used by companies was making desirable flavors. Before vape flavors
were created many young adults wouldn’t be interested in the smell or flavor of tobacco and
wouldn’t bother smoking. Using these child-friendly names and flavors makes it seem more
approachable than cigarettes. “These flavors enhance the appeal of e-cigarettes by creating
sensory perceptions of sweetness and coolness and masking the aversive taste of nicotine”(NCBIWWW Error Blocked Diagnostic). The taste is another very important element of vapes
because it makes them more addicting. It’s like when a kid tastes soda for the first time. There are
so many varieties of flavors kids are curious about and also want to explore many of them.

A fourth method would be, Unlike traditional cigarettes, vapes can be hidden easily by
both the amount of vapor and device size. One of the most popular vapes, JUUL, is super sleek
and one of the reasons vaping had an uproar. “The Juul can be held discreetly in the palm of a
hand, tucked into a sleeve, or hidden among the school supplies in a student’s backpack.
Juul is designed to look like a USB flash drive, making it easy to conceal from unsuspecting
teachers or families,” says a Spokane Regional Health District alert.” (Lind) With this idea, kids
could essentially bring and use vapes to school without getting detected for the most part.
Whereas with cigarettes, not only is the pack of cigarettes bulkier than vapes, but you would also
need to bring a lighter on top of the cigarettes, to light them.

Adding on to the size of the vape, even the amount of vapor and smell is minimal to
none. “When ‘juuling,’ even the vapor “cloud” is discreet, much smaller than other vaping
products, said Kamieo Katz, store manager at Spokane Cigar.” (Lind) Cigarettes have a very
distinct smell that anyone could notice someone has smoked, while vapes are subtle, where
people can’t be sure if it’s a vape or other aromas like perfumes, candy, fresh fruit, and other
real-life aromas.

In my own experiences, I’ve fallen into the traps these vaping companies created. I have
tasted vapes and the flavor makes you want to have it more. An example of a funny experience
I’ve had with Juul is with my mom. Once I dropped a Juul in front of her and she asked me what
it is, I told her it was a USB. At first, she thought it was a vape but she took a pull of the device
from the wrong end and was convinced that it was a USB. Using vapes in schools is also pretty
easy because it’s so discrete and doesn’t leave any vapor nor was the device visible. All in all,
I’ve fallen victim to these companies’ tactics and am recovering now.

In conclusion, the vaping industry has heightened its productivity and popularity among
young adults and early teens. These companies were able to successfully use social media in a
way of advertisement to attract young adults since social media is used mostly by young adults.
Vapes can be concealable by their size and smell, so young adults could vape in schools without
getting caught. Vapes also come in different flavors, these flavors would be very appealing to
young adults and early teens, which makes the young adults and teens more addicted to vaping.
These methods used by the companies are meant to exploit young impressionable adults and
teens to start vaping. Ultimately these companies succeeded in their campaign to win over teens
to vape.