E-Cig Ad Airs During Big Game

Posted: April 24, 2014 | tobacco | ad, big game, c-cig, commercial, super bowl, tobacco | 0 Comments

Ok so the big game was a complete blow out and it was pretty much over as soon as it started. Lucky for everyone watching, The Superbowl is known for more than just football. Perhaps even more infamous than the game itself, are the incredibly expensive commercials that companies drop millions on, and in some cases risk the future of their product, to get your attention for 30 seconds.

This year, we saw some real doosies: Jerry Seinfeld got back into character, Budweiser made arguably the cutest thing you’ve seen in years with their puppy making friends with a horse and although not as prominent, we saw Vaporzone drop millions on a commercial for their e-cig.

Granted the commercial wasn’t a heavy hitter and most folks don’t even remember seeing it, but it has caused some uproar from public health people. Specifically, there is a strong sentiment that e-cig manufacturers should be banned from producing TV commercials in the same way that actual cigarette companies are.  There is a growing concern that, although the device can be marketed as a quit-smoking aide, it may appeal to kids and/or entice nonsmokers to try the product instead of actual smoking.

On the flip side, you have a private company putting millions of dollars on the line with no promise that a Superbowl ad will help skyrocket sales. Although it isn’t yet illegal to make e-cig commercials, using an e-cig in public is rapidly becoming as tough to do as real smokes. With bans growing larger all over the nation, using an e-cig is nearly as inconvenient as the real deal. Despite the commercial showing a man using the product indoors, many states and cities have already banned indoor use and require designated usage areas alongside real smokers.

There is a feeling among many people that e-cig companies, like NJOY whose slated to spend $30 million on ads in 2014 and Vaporzone who paid for the Superbowl ad, may be shooting themselves in the foot with all this ad spending. If they drop millions on ads that depict freedom of e-cig usage, buyers may be unhappy when they realize that their products cant be used as freely as depicted. Time will tell….