UK Bans E-Cigarette Businesses From Advertising on Instagram
Under UK CAP rules and the EU TPD, businesses cannot advertise unlicensed nicotine vaping devices in most media, and regulators are tightening scrutiny of promotional activity on Instagram.
According to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), the UK CAP rule 22.12 prohibits the promotion of unlicensed nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in newspapers, magazines, journals, and online media. However, this regulation allows factual statements about products on marketers' own websites, and in principle, this exception may extend to social media activities.<\/span><\/div>
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To this end, British American Tobacco, one of the manufacturers banned from advertising, believes its promotional activities fall under this exception. However, the ASA pointed out that the use of celebrities in tobacco company Instagram posts "clearly [exceeds] providing factual information and is essentially promotional."<\/span><\/div>
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The ASA considered whether posts on public Instagram profiles could be distributed to users who do not follow the account and determined that other users could view these posts through the use of tags and Instagram's "Explore" option. The agency concluded that this is equivalent to pushing content to consumers who do not necessarily choose to receive it.<\/span><\/div>
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The Scottish government has proposed restrictions on advertising.<\/span><\/div>
At the same time, Scotland plans to become the first country in Europe to restrict e-cigarette advertising. Scottish Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick has confirmed that the Scottish government is exploring ways to reduce children's exposure to e-cigarette products.<\/span><\/div>
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"This will make Scotland the first country in Europe to do so. The proposed restrictions will not apply to any public health campaigns, and the proposal allows advertising at points of sale, provided that the advertisements are not visible from outside the store."<\/span><\/div>
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The Scottish Parliament will consider proposals to restrict vape businesses from advertising on billboards, bus shelters, and flyers. The proposed restrictions do not apply to any public health campaigns, and the regulation will allow advertising at points of sale as long as these advertisements are not visible from outside the sales venue.<\/span><\/div>
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