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 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also directed the company
to remove all ads related to Vype on Instagram.
The decision stems from a probe into seven Instagram posts by Vype
after some health groups raised complaints in March that they were
likely to appeal to those below 18 years of age.
The complaints from Action on Smoking and Health, Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids and Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products
also alleged the company had used models who appeared to be under
25, which is prohibited in the UK.
The ads must not appear again in the form complained about, the ASA
said in a statement, upholding complaints that the company had
breached online advertising laws and used under-25 models through
those posts.
The agency, however, did not uphold the complaint that BAT had
deliberately targeted anyone other than adults through its Instagram
posts.
Though UK laws ban online advertising of e-cigarettes, manufacturers
are allowed to provide factual product information such as the name,
content and price of the product on their own websites, according to
the EU's Tobacco Products Directive.
The ASA's ruling, however, said that social media accounts were not
the same as a website, and therefore BAT could not use the platforms
for disseminating factual or promotional content on e-cigarettes.
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"The ASA's ruling is a huge step forward in preventing tobacco
companies from using social media to advertise to young people in
the U.K. and around the world," said Mark Hurley, director of
international communications at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
"While this is a mild negative for the BAT's UK revenue stream from
vape products in the UK, it's immaterial to the bottom line,"
Liberum analyst Nico von Stackelberg said in a note.
Tobacco companies have been pouring millions of dollars into their
e-cigarette businesses as sales of traditional cigarettes decline.
But a spate of vaping-related deaths and illnesses and high teen
addiction to the products have raised concerns over the safety of
these devices.
BAT, the maker of Dunhill cigarettes, reported vaping products
revenue of 189 million pounds for the first half of this year, up
from 118 million pounds in the same period a year ago.
"We will abide by the ASA's decision and recommendation to remove
the relevant posts and amend our Instagram account setting," said
Simon Cleverly, BAT's group head of corporate affairs.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru, additional reporting by
Indranil Sarkar; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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