Online Electronic Cigarette Marketing—Violation of Self-regulated Standards by Tobacco Companies. Adolescents cannot easily access information about leading cigarette brands owing to the strict age-verification gates major tobacco companies maintain on theirwebsites—a requirement of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. These gates require viewers to verify they are 21 years or older by supplying their name, address, birthdate, last 4 digits of their Social Security number, and driver license number

Gerling, M.

Sargent, J.

Soneji, S.

Yang, J.

Carolina Digital Repository

Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.LettersRESEARCH LETTERADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT HEALTHOnline Electronic Cigarette Marketing—Violationof Self-regulated Standards by Tobacco CompaniesAdolescents cannot easily access information about leadingcigarette brands owing to the strict age-verification gates ma-jor tobacco companies maintain on their websites—a require-ment of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. These gatesrequire viewers to verify they are 21 years or older by supply-ing their name, address, birthdate, last 4 digits of their SocialSecurity number, and driver license number. We do not yetknow whether age-verification gates on entry to leading elec-tronic cigarette (e-cigarette) brand websites are equally strin-gent. In this article, we address this gap by characterizing theseage-verification gates. If gates are weak, adolescents couldTable. Stringency of Age-Verification Gate at Website EntryCompany Share, % BrandStringency of Age Gate at EntryCorporate Social Responsibility StatementNone Warning Click/Check Birthdate RegisterImperialTobacco46.9 Blu … … X … … “We play our part by not directing the marketing of ourproducts to anyone under the age of 18, or higherminimum age where specified locally, or to non-smokers.This is part of our responsible marketing approach.”(http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/cr)ECIG 15.0 El Rey X … … … … “…no part of our website is structured to attract anyoneunder 18.” (http://ecig.co/important-information/)Fin … … X … … “FIN electronic cigarette products are marketed toexisting adult smokers only. We take all necessaryprecautions to ensure our customer is an existing smokerof traditional cigarettes.” (https://www.fincigs.com/blog/about-us/)Vapestick … … X … … NoneVIP … … X … … NoneBallantyneBrands14.8 Mistic … … X … … NoneNJOY Inc 9.1 NJOY … … X … … “NJOY’s mission is to end smoking-related death anddisease by offering preferred alternatives to adultsmokers and vapers around the world.” (https://www.njoy.com/mission)CBDistributor5.0 21stCenturySmokeX … … … … NoneNicotek 2.2 Metro … … X … … NoneVapor Corp 1.9 Smoke 51 … … X … … NoneKrave … X … … … NoneVaporX … X … … … NoneJapanTobaccoInternational1.5 Logic … … … X … “We do not market tobacco products to minors, nor dowe encourage anyone to take up smoking—or discourageanyone from quitting.” (http://www.jt.com/csr/report/index.html)Altria 1.2 MarkTen … … X … … “Examples of our tobacco companies’ marketingpractices include: connecting with adult tobaccoconsumers through direct mail and websites.”(http://www.altria.com/Interactive/2014CRReport/index.html#)ReynoldsAmerican0.8 Vuse … … X … … “R. J. Reynolds has stringent age-verification standardsand safeguards to prevent its marketing and promotionalmaterials from going to anyone under the age of 21 topurchase tobacco products. And its track record isextraordinarily good, with an accuracy rate of nearly 100percent.” (http://www.reynoldsamerican.com/Transforming-Tobacco/Three-Pillars-of-Focus/Youth-Tobacco-Prevention/default.aspx)VMRProducts0.5 V2Pro … … … … X NoneVaporCouture… X … … … NoneV2 … X … … … NoneGS VaporsInc0.2 GreenSmoke … X … … … NoneAbbreviations: ECIG, Electronic Cigarettes International Group; ellipses, not applicable.jamapediatrics.com (Reprinted) JAMA Pediatrics May 2016 Volume 170, Number 5 511Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.easily access information about these novel products, watchvideos on vaping, and even purchase e-cigarettes.1Methods | We focused on the leading 12 e-cigarette companiesand their 19 brands, which captured 98% of the retail marketshare in 2014 (Table).2 The categories of age-verification gateson website entry included a warning statement that viewersmust be of legal purchasing age; a click or check that viewerswere 18 years or older; a box for viewers to enter their birth-date; and registration, in which viewers enter their birthdate,address, and last 4 digits of their Social Security number.The Dartmouth College Committee for the Protection ofHuman Subjects determined that the regulatory definition ofhuman subjects research (45 CFR 46.102[f]) did not apply tothis study; thus, institutional review board review of this studywas determined to not be required.Results | The stringency of age-verification gates varied acrossbrands: 2 had no gate, 5 stated warnings, 10 required click/checks, 1 required birthdate entry, and 1 required registration.Stringency also varied across brands within a company. AmongElectronic Cigarettes International Group e-cigarettes, El Reyhad no gate, while Vapestick, Fin, and VIP required click/checks.Three of 4 cigarette-selling companies (Altria, Imperial Tobacco,and Japan Tobacco) had less-stringent gates for their e-cigarettebrand websites than their cigarette brand websites, which allrequired registration and proof of age (≥21 years).Discussion | This study shows there is little serious age verifi-cation for entry into leading e-cigarette websites. Moreover,age-verification gates vary within and across major cigarettemanufacturers despite strong claims of corporate social re-sponsibility against marketing to adolescents. In the Market-ing Responsibly section of its 2014 Corporate ResponsibilityProgress Report, Altria described marketing practices of its com-panies as “connecting with adult tobacco consumers throughdirect mail and websites.” This statement is true for Altria’sMarlboro cigarette website but untrue for Altria’s MarkTene-cigarette website, which grants full access to all of its mar-keting and promotional material after viewers simply click theyare 21 years or older, regardless of their actual age.Altria is not alone in its inconsistent application of corpo-rate social responsibility. Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobaccoreported similar statements against marketing to adolescents,which uniformly apply to their cigarette brand websites but notto those of their e-cigarette brands. Similarly, the corporate re-sponsibility statements of exclusive e-cigarette companies areincongruent with the stringency of their age-verification gates.In contrast to these companies, Reynolds American consis-tently applies strict age-verification standards across all itscigarette and e-cigarette brands.In conclusion, the absence of strong age-verificationgates on e-cigarette websites allows adolescents to freelyexplore information about e-cigarette products that couldappeal to this vulnerable population, such as flavorede-juice.3 The Food and Drug Administration should requirestringent age-verification gates on entry once it deems regu-latory authority over e-cigarettes. Doing so would limityouth access to e-cigarette websites, while not posing a bar-rier to adults seeking information. This regulation wouldprotect the public health, especially for adolescents, by miti-gating the potential harms of e-cigarettes, including initia-tion of cigarette smoking.3-6 Regardless of government regu-lation, tobacco companies ought to consistently apply theirprinciples of corporate social responsibility across all prod-ucts, not just cigarettes.Samir Soneji, PhDMegan Gerling, BAJaeWon Yang, BAJames Sargent, MDAuthor Affiliations: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover,New Hampshire (Soneji, Gerling, Sargent); Children’s National Medical Center,Washington, DC (Yang).Corresponding Author: Samir Soneji, PhD, The Dartmouth Institute for HealthPolicy and Clinical Evaluation, WTRB, 1 Medical Center Dr, Lebanon, NH 03756(samir.soneji@dartmouth.edu).Published Online: March 7, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.4501.Author Contributions: Dr Soneji and Ms Gerling had full access to all of the datain the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracyof the data analysis.Study concept and design: Soneji, Sargent.Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Soneji, Gerling, Yang.Drafting of the manuscript: Soneji, Gerling.Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content:All authors.Statistical analysis: Soneji.Obtained funding: Soneji.Administrative, technical, or material support: Soneji, Yang.Study supervision: Soneji, Sargent.Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.1. Williams RS, Derrick J, Ribisl KM. Electronic cigarette sales to minors via theinternet. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(3):e1563.2. Gale Research. Market Share Reporter. 26th ed. Detroit, MI: Gale; 2016.3. Dutra LM, Glantz SA. Electronic cigarettes and conventional cigarette useamong US adolescents: a cross-sectional study. JAMA Pediatr. 2014;168(7):610-617.4. Grana R, Benowitz N, Glantz SA. E-cigarettes: a scientific review. Circulation.2014;129(19):1972-1986.5. Primack BA, Soneji S, Stoolmiller M, Fine MJ, Sargent JD. Progression totraditional cigarette smoking after electronic cigarette use among usadolescents and young adults. JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(11):1018-1023.6. Leventhal AM, Strong DR, Kirkpatrick MG, et al. Association of electroniccigarette use with initiation of combustible tobacco product smoking in earlyadolescence. JAMA. 2015;314(7):700-707.Letters512 JAMA Pediatrics May 2016 Volume 170, Number 5 (Reprinted) jamapediatrics.com

Online electronic cigarette marketing-violation of self-regulated standards by tobacco companies

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Online electronic cigarette marketing-violation of self-regulated standards by tobacco companies

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