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 Soaring sales of e-cigarettes, metal tubes with
batteries which heat nicotine-laced liquids into a vapor, have
caught the eye of some of the world's biggest tobacco companies
including BAT, Altria Group and Imperial Tobacco.
Advertisements for BAT's Vype e-cigs will use the strap line "pure
satisfaction for vapers" on television but "pure satisfaction for
smokers" online.
From 2100 GMT on Monday, British viewers will see the image of a man
and woman running through a night-time urban streetscape, before
passing through a wall of vapor promoting the product from
Nicoventures, a BAT subsidiary.
A consultation into the rules governing e-cigarette advertising is
due to be launched shortly by UK regulators governing print, online
and broadcast advertising but BAT said the current rules left
e-cigarette advertising unclear.
"In the absence of such standards, we have created an advert that we
believe markets Vype appropriately and responsibly for its target
audience," said Des Naughton, managing director of Nicoventures.
E-cigarettes are seen as less harmful than regular cigarettes and a
useful way to wean smokers off their habits but critics say they can
act as a gateway to nicotine addiction and that more research is
needed on the health implications.
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Around 1.3 million people use e-cigarettes in Britain, most of
whom are current or former tobacco smokers according to the charity
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
Britain banned television advertising of cigarettes in 1965 with a
1991 EU directive outlawing the advertising of any tobacco products,
including cigars and loose tobacco, on television.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by
Guy Faulconbridge)
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