Using the Same Tactics as ‘Big Tobacco,’ Juul May Have Intentionally Targeted Teens
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Using the same tactics as 'Big Tobacco,' Juul may have intentionally targeted teens
After a hearing this week, members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform said that Juul, the ultra-popular e-cigarette brand, may have intentionally targeted teens in schools and online.
Based on 55,000 non-public documents out of Juul Labs, the subcommittee said that Juul's Youth Prevention Plan recruited schools into a program that put Juul representatives and students in the same room. Schools received payment for participating in the program.
According to the release, one testimony put before the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy described a Juul representative telling students that vaping was "totally safe," and recommended that one already nicotine-addicted student use Juul.
The subcommittee also reported that Juul spent $134,000 to set up a five-week summer camp for 80 children through a charter school, according to documents obtained for the hearing. The camp was meant to be a "holistic health education program."
Dr. Robert Jackler, Stanford University School of Medicine, testified about his conversations with Juul co-founder James Monsees, who said the use of Stanford's tobacco advertising database was "very helpful as they designed JUUL's advertising," according to information provided by the subcommittee.
"The Subcommittee found that: JUUL deployed a sophisticated program to enter schools and convey its messaging directly to teenage children; JUUL also targeted teenagers and children, as young as eight years old, in summer camps and public out-of-school programs; and JUUL recruited thousands of online 'influencers' to market to teens," the memo states.
[...] Juul declined to comment at the time of publication.
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