UK Advertising Standards Authority Bans Vaping Ads on Social Media

According to Vapingpost, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has recently banned four e-cigarette manufacturers from promoting their e-cigarette products/devices on Instagram.

According to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), UK CAP Regulation 22.12 prohibits the promotion of 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.

In this regard, one of the banned manufacturers, British American Tobacco, argued that their promotional activities fell under this exception. However, the American Tobacco Association pointed out that this tobacco company used celebrities in its Instagram posts, which "clearly [exceeded] the scope of providing factual information and was promotional in nature."

The ASA considered whether posts on Instagram profiles could be distributed to users who do not follow the account and determined that through the use of tags and Instagram's Explore option, other users could view these posts. The agency concluded that this amounted to pushing content to consumers who did not necessarily choose to receive it.

At the same time, Scotland is planning to become the first country in Europe to impose restrictions on 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.

"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."

The Scottish Parliament will consider proposals to restrict e-cigarette companies from advertising and promoting through 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 the advertisements are not visible from outside the sales venue.