An 18-year-old man who says JUUL e-cig use has given him “lungs like a 70-year-old” has filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco-based vape company, according to The Independent. Adam Hergenrader of Illinois says he started vaping “because everyone was doing it.” He has accused JUUL Labs of conducting a carefully-orchestrated social media ad campaign aimed at teens, reportedly convincing them that vaping could increase their social standing.

Not for the First Time

Intentionally targeting underage youth in its marketing is an allegation JUUL Labs has faced before. Company representatives have repeatedly denied that JUUL products were ever intended for teenagers, and insist they have been doing everything possible to keep vape away from those who are not of legal age. Company co-founder and CEO James Monsees has said that e-cigarette sales to minors is “antithetical to the company’s mission.”

According to another JUUL spokesperson, Matt David, the original, and ongoing, intention of the company was to persuade adult smokers to switch to vape as a “healthier” alternative to combustible cigarettes. This campaign, which was carried out during the summer and early fall of 2015, was ineffective and ultimately abandoned, David said. Sales did not really take off until 2017, after JUUL changed its marketing tactics.

However, another former JUUL manager, who spoke to the New York Times only on the condition of anonymity, said that even that earlier, failed campaign had some effect. Within a few months of JUUL’s introduction in 2015, it had become obvious that the primary purchasers and users of JUUL were teens.

Damning Evidence

Dr. Robert Jackler, a physician at Stanford University who has studied the effects of tobacco marketing, says that JUUL deleted most of its social media posts in September of 2018 – but his organization, Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA), has retained an archive of JUUL’s social media campaign.

Jackler says JUUL’s e-cig marketing between the summer of 2015 and the end of 2016 were clearly intended to appeal to young people, The ads that have been archived show attractive youth in clothing, situations, and behaviors that are far more typical of teens than adults.

According to Vox, the company regularly held events and “launch parties” that featured music popular among youth, seductive images of flavored products and catchy phrases like “vaporized.” The company’s name itself has now entered the lexicon as a verb (“juuling”).

The E-Cig Epidemic: Big Tobacco 2.0?

Two things have become abundantly clear: whether by accident or design, JUUL Labs has been creating a new generation of people who are “hooked” to its products, and for more than 450 people, vaping has had some serious (and for six of them, fatal) consequences.

In fairness, most of the victims of lung disease were not using actual JUUL pods; many cases appear to be tied to “home-brewed” vape formulas based on cannabis as well as nicotine. JUUL pods have been implicated in seizures from nicotine overdose, however – and a great many people who vape today got started with JUUL e-cig products.