UK bans vape ads on Instagram

Recently, the British Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) banned four vape manufacturers from promoting their vape products / electronic devices on Instagram. According to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), Article 22.12 of the British CAP Regulations prohibits the promotion of vapes containing nicotine in newspapers, magazines, periodicals and online media. However, the regulation allows de facto declarations of products on marketers ’own websites. In principle, this exception may extend to social media activities.

To this end, British American Tobacco, one of the manufacturers that bans advertising, argues that their promotional activities fall under this exception. However, the American Tobacco Association pointed out that the tobacco company uses celebrities in its Instagram posts "obviously [outside] the scope of providing factual information and is of a promotional nature."

ASA considered whether it was possible to distribute posts on Instagram profiles to users who did not follow the account, and determined that by using tags and Instagram ’s Explore option, other users could view these posts. The agency believes that this is equivalent to pushing content to consumers who do not necessarily choose to receive content.

At the same time, Scotland is planning to become the first country in Europe to restrict vape advertising. Scottish Minister of Public Health Joe FitzPatrick has confirmed that the Scottish government is exploring ways to reduce children ’s exposure to vape products.

"This will make Scotland the first country in Europe to do so. The proposed restrictions will not apply to any public health campaign, and the proposal is to allow advertising at the point of sale, provided the advertisement is not visible outside the store. "

The Scottish Parliament will consider proposals to restrict the promotion and promotion of vape companies by prohibiting advertisements on billboards, bus shelters and leaflets. The proposed restrictions do not apply to any public health campaign, and the regulation will allow advertisements at the point of sale, as long as these advertisements are not visible at external sales locations.

Prev:vape is not a tobacco monopoly Next: U.S. report on electronic nebulized lung disease...