|
 Democrats on a subcommittee of the House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Reform released a cache of internal Juul
emails and other documents that committee staff described as early
attempts to "enter schools and convey its messaging directly to
teenage children."
Juul's use of social media influencers to promote its vaping devices
in the years after it launched in 2015 also came under scrutiny.
James Monsees, Juul's co-founder and chief product officer, told the
committee that the company's target audience from the beginning has
been adult cigarette smokers.
Among efforts cited in the Juul documents released were a $134,000
payment to set up a five-week "holistic health education" summer
camp at a Maryland charter school, recruiting children from third
through 12th grades, and offering $10,000 to schools using the
company's "youth prevention and education" programs for students,
including those caught using e-cigarette products.
"You don't think that sounds strange at all?" Representative Katie
Hill, a Democrat, asked Juul's chief administrative officer, Ashley
Gould.
"All of these educational efforts were intended to keep youth from
using the product," Gould responded. When Juul realized how the
school involvement could be perceived as negative, "we stopped the
program," she said.
In a statement after the hearing, Juul said the $134,000 donation
was to "facilitate already-existing community outreach and
youth-prevention programs," and said the company "did not have any
direct interaction with the students."
Several committee members said Juul's initiatives appeared similar
to past efforts by the tobacco industry to reach young people under
the guise of smoking prevention programs. Gould said Juul, which is
35 percent owned by Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc <MO.N>, halted
its program last year once it became aware of the tobacco industry's
past moves.
[to top of second column] |
Caleb Mintz, 17, a New York city high school student, testified at a
separate hearing on Wednesday that a Juul representative came to his
school as part of an educational program on mental health and
addiction last year. He said in an interview Thursday that students
received "mixed messages" about the product, being told it was safe
but not to buy it.
Mintz said after the hearing that the Juul presentation seemed to be
"playing to the side of teens as rebellious. When a teen is told not
to do something, they're more likely to do it."
Members of the committee also quizzed Gould and Monsees over the use
of social media influencers to promote Juul's vaping devices.
Company executives early on agreed that "younger consumers age 25 to
34 was going to be the target of our initial campaign," Monsees
said. "They would be more receptive to new technology solutions,"
such as the Juul device.
Amid an enormous uptick in teenage use of e-cigarettes in 2018 -- a
78% increase among high school students from 2017 to 2018, according
to federal data -- Juul said it ended all social media advertising
last fall. Juul also pulled many flavored nicotine pods, except
mint, menthol and tobacco, from retail stores, which Monsees said
represented more than half of the company's sales at that time.
(Reporting by Chris Kirkham in Los Angeles and Bryan Pietsch in
Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
