AN advertorial from a British vape industry body has been banned for promoting unlicensed e-cigarettes in a newspaper.
The ad from the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), seen in the East Lothian Courier on October 26, featured the headline: “Let’s clear the smoke of confusion: Vaping saves smokers’ lives.”
The article went on: “A constant stream of negative headlines is eroding the public’s understanding of vaping’s benefits, particularly among smokers”, and: “The IBVTA is now seeking to challenge some of the misinformation we’ve seen over recent months and to educate smokers about the benefits of vaping.”
It claimed that single-use vapes, due to their “user-friendly nature”, played a crucial role in the initial transition away from tobacco, with 53% of regular smokers and 61% of recent ex-smokers using single-use devices.
READ MORE: English households spend more than £6 billion on prescription charges
A further paragraph said vaping, particularly when using flavoured devices, was “pivotal in achieving the Scottish Government’s smoke-free ambitions”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated whether the ad breached rules by promoting unlicensed, nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components in a newspaper.
The IBVTA said the ad presented factual information about vaping and presented findings from a piece of research about consumers’ views on vaping.
They said the ad was published during a time of “public misunderstanding of vaping harms, including that vaping was more harmful than smoking”.
The ASA said the ad was published in a local Scottish newspaper in response to the Scottish Government’s proposal to ban the sale of disposable vapes by 2025.
The regulator noted the ad did not refer to a specific brand of vape or vaping product, and therefore did not directly promote nicotine-containing e-cigarettes.
But it said the ad’s claims around the benefits of single-use vapes had the indirect effect of promoting them.
The ad included a link to the IBVTA website, which included a “Find a vape shop” feature, which the ASA said had the further effect of indirectly promoting unlicensed e-cigarettes.
Subscribe to The National for just £20 for a year
The ASA concluded: “Because the ad had the indirect effect of promoting e-cigarettes, which were not licensed as medicines in non-permitted media, we concluded that it breached the Code.”
It ruled that the ad must not appear again.
The IBVTA said: “A YouGov survey in January of this year found that less than a quarter of British adults surveyed could correctly identify that smoking is far more harmful than vaping.
“The IBVTA is therefore disappointed that adjusting the balance of misinformation in the media is not deemed legal through any paid advertorial means.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel