To the surprise of many Americans they were treated to a type of commercial they haven’t seen since the early 1970s. This is what looked at first to be a smoking advertisement. But a closer look will reveal it is just the latest commercial from Blue Cigs. Electronic cigarettes have been causing a big storm over in the United States and have grown rapidly from a small cottage industry to a $250 million one. The market is growing even bigger and with big tobacco players getting a piece of the action it will grow even further.
So what is everyone worried about? These are meant to be a healthy alternative to smoking and have helped many millions of addicts give up tobacco products all together. With many experts around the world claiming that there are huge health benefits and smokers pointing out that they have not touched a tobacco cigarette since taking up e-cigs why are anti smoking associations against them?
Their argument is that these devices are poorly regulated and still symbolise smoking. The fact that a cool advert is hitting the nation promoting a method of nicotine intake that has a good image may attract non-smokers to take these up. There is no age limit on who can buy an electronic cigarette so in theory kids under the legal tobacco buying age can get a hold of them easily. Also the lure of the fruity and sweet flavours are more appealing to kids and this may lead them to become nicotine addicts.
Considering another company famous for its products in this industry is geekvape, that has its headquarters in Shenzhen in china and is known for the good quality product supply. Its vape kits are quite affordable and are present in different varieties. This being said the industry as a whole is very keen to work with regulators and raise the overall standards of the production of electriccigarettes. Although Blu eCigs and other top companies are famed for their high quality there are a lot of imitation products on the markets that do not follow their strict manufacturing procedures and they may put less welcomed ingredients in their e-liquid cartridges. This then lowers the trust of the industry. Regulation of how these are made and what is added into the nicotinecartridges will put more buyer confidence into market and these products will explode in popularity.
Lorrilard Inc has recently bought out Blu and is quickly working to promote their brand and soon it will be available in around 50,000 retail outlets. The founder and current president Jason Healy is pleased with the backing the company now has and that it is creating a lifestyle image for these products. To them smoking is cool again and this is depicted in their recent advertisements.
Anti smoking groups are against this as they say it glamorises smoking again and will encourage people to take it up. But the company rightly argues back stating that their products are aimed at those who already smoke tobacco products and are looking for an alternative. Electronic cigarettes are a cleaner way of smoking and Blu’s target audience is aged between 35 to 55 years old.
The arguments will continue and it is really down to the regulators like the FDA to get a move on and find a way to regulate and control the sale of electronic cigarettes. At the moment these devices are a real alternative to giving up. Research done in various countries shows that they are working and if the quality can be assured and more large companies back e-cig manufacturers we could see these on our retail shelves everywhere very soon. The same is happening in the United Kingdom with regulation and discussion also it looks like the USA and the UK will be the leaders in pioneering this industry and the rest will follow.
