Taobao Cracks Down on False E-Cigarette Marketing Claims

On October 11, it was reported that Taobao has begun a cleanup operation against false advertising claims for e-cigarette products starting from October 8. Some e-cigarette sellers have reported that several of their allegedly non-compliant products have been removed today.

Previously, Taobao announced on September 20 that, based on feedback from relevant departments, some e-cigarette products contained false or misleading descriptions or used cigarette brand information. According to the Advertising Law, "advertisements must not contain false or misleading content and must not deceive or mislead consumers." Taobao will take multiple measures to rectify this situation.
 
It is reported that the rectification measures began on October 8, and some sellers have already received notifications of violations.

The following is the full notification:

Dear Taobao sellers:

Based on feedback from relevant departments, some e-cigarette products contain false or misleading descriptions or use cigarette brand information. According to the Advertising Law, "advertisements must not contain false or misleading content and must not deceive or mislead consumers." To ensure a good shopping experience for consumers and maintain a good platform order, Taobao will:

1. If any product contains information related to cigarette brands, it will be removed or deleted in accordance with the "Taobao Market Management and Violation Handling Regulations" without penalty.

2. If any product contains descriptions such as "clearing lungs, quitting smoking, beneficial to health, harmless, no harmful ingredients, no secondhand smoke hazards, alleviating nicotine cravings," it will be handled according to the "Taobao Market Management and Violation Handling Regulations" under "excessive information - information inconsistent with reality."

The platform will treat products that still contain cigarette brand information as "improper use of others' rights" starting from October 8, 2019; and will control products that violate advertising laws starting from September 28, 2019.

This is to inform you, thank you for your support and attention to the Taobao platform!

Taobao Platform

September 20, 2019

Additionally, Taobao provided examples of violations for clarification. Some types of violations include:

1. Product information descriptions containing cigarette brand terms or product descriptions containing cigarette brands
 
2. Violations of excessive information

1. Descriptions such as "quitting smoking, clearing lungs, alleviating nicotine cravings"
 
2. Descriptions such as "no harmful ingredients found in real cigarettes."
 
3. Descriptions such as "making quitting smoking and switching to alternatives easy, healthy, and fun."