Are Edison Chen and Luo Yonghao's Vaping Ads Good or Bad?

The day before yesterday, vvild officially announced its collaboration with Edison Chen, appointing him as the brand's Chief Entrepreneur and releasing a rather high-quality advertisement. Edison Chen also shared this news and the advertisement on Weibo, which has garnered over 40,000 shares, 60,000 likes, and nearly 7,000 comments by 7 PM today.
 
My WeChat moments and e-cigarette groups were flooded with this news. The vast majority of people believe this is a good thing and have praised it.
 

Initially, I thought the same way. I believed this was a new attempt by an e-cigarette brand to communicate externally amidst heavy restrictions and defamation, and at least vvild successfully brought e-cigarettes into the public eye. However, after discussing this with a friend who has worked in advertising for many years, his words made me rethink and worry.

He asked me how I felt after watching Edison Chen's advertisement.

I replied that I thought it was quite good. First, it avoided the risks associated with e-cigarette advertising. Second, the product was not shown in the advertisement, so viewers might not realize it was an ad and might be more willing to share it. Third, the ad revolved around the word "wild" and connected with Edison Chen, leading to discussions about what vvild is, creating a topic that those who know will share with those who don't, enhancing social and communicative aspects.

I thought I had answered well, but my friend said, "If someone else had hired Edison Chen, it might have been more effective, but Luo Yonghao hiring him is a negative plus negative situation."

I was surprised and instinctively asked why.

"Many people dislike Luo Yonghao, and e-cigarettes are already controversial. This could become a liability. Moreover, e-cigarette companies are not mature enough to negotiate with the government, and this advertisement could easily lead the government to decisively stifle the entire industry. If vvild fails because of this, it would be unfortunate, but if it drags everyone down, that would be a serious issue."

After hearing this, I recalled what a friend in Canada, who has been in the e-cigarette industry for many years, told me. He said that even in Canada, a country that recognizes e-cigarettes, the giants in the e-cigarette industry are very afraid of traditional tobacco companies and repeatedly urge us to keep a low profile and not offend them. They have a 400-year history and are extremely wealthy! You may have noticed that those scientists who previously supported e-cigarettes are now afraid to speak out, and similar articles are hard to find abroad unless these giants transition. Besides traditional tobacco companies, health insurance companies also interfere because if there are no more patients, they won't make money. One can imagine how significant this profit chain is?

With this in mind, I am unsure whether Luo Yonghao's advertisement with Edison Chen is good or bad for the industry.

Coincidentally, a friend in Beijing who is responsible for mall leasing suddenly sent me a message today, saying they just received a notice that e-cigarette shops are no longer allowed in malls. I wonder if this is related to Edison Chen's advertisement?

A few days ago, a friend in the China Tobacco system wanted to jump into the e-cigarette business and asked me about the industry situation. I told him, "You are like a eunuch in 1912, trying to join the national army in 1949." E-cigarettes are currently most afraid of you guys; most e-cigarettes are private enterprises, and private enterprises dare not confront state-owned enterprises. They are all worried about policies; if they say you can't do it, then you can't do it. Look, whether it's March 15 or the current mainstream media, they all uniformly say e-cigarettes are harmful, pushing hard towards tobacco. I estimate that future regulations will be similar to those for cigarettes, and I even worry that online sales will be banned because tobacco is not allowed to be sold online, and it is very likely that licenses will be required.

He listened and seemed unconvinced, saying, "Policies and regulations are not targeting you alone. Worrying about policies every day is less effective than focusing on product and market development."

I was somewhat angry and replied, "Policies are the biggest risk facing the Chinese e-cigarette market, and no company can ignore them. Worrying about policies doesn't mean not doing anything; it's about how to do it. Many leading domestic e-cigarette brands have gone overseas. If the domestic market is good, who would want to do business in unfamiliar foreign markets, especially facing the current huge domestic market gap? In my view, going abroad is mostly a reluctant move to disperse policy risks. #p#分页标题#e#

E-cigarettes have a long way to go. This is not only a long-term educational process but also a lasting revolutionary process, as revolution means moving others' cheese. The two hardest things in the world are to implant your thoughts into others' minds and to put others' money into your pocket. E-cigarettes have to do both of these challenging tasks simultaneously, which is certainly not easy.

Postscript:

Later, I asked this advertising industry friend if e-cigarettes should still do advertising.

He said that advertising is a must.

I asked again, how do you think e-cigarette advertising should be done?

He replied, I can't figure that out either.