New details of JUUL’s unlawful marketing practices have emerged through a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of Massachusetts. The lawsuit accuses JUUL of paying NickJr.com and CartoonNetwork.com to stream advertisements for their vaping product. Not only are these websites obviously intended a young audience, but the advertisements themselves featured youthful and “cool” models that would likely appeal to teenagers. The lawsuit also accuses JUUL of emailing young teens about how they can purchase nicotine products as an underage person.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that JUUL has tried to recruit social media celebrities who have a young following to advertise their product. One of the celebrities mentioned is pop-star Miley Cyrus.
Since its 2015 conception, JUUL has been the fastest growing vape company in the US (sales increased by more than 780% between 2017 and 2018). However, recent lawsuits and bans on vaping have greatly hurt JUUL as a whole.
The fight against JUUL revolves around the company’s role in the youth vaping “epidemic,” as the FDA has labeled it. More kids are vaping now than ever, and critics largely blame the device’s accessibility, concealability, the high levels of nicotine found in JUULpods, and the marketing campaign aimed at teens. This JUUL lawsuit is one of many state Juul lawsuits that have been filed against the e-cigarette manufacturer in recent months.
