The UK edition of Marketing Week ran a lengthy article on e-cigarettes and the way the brands are approaching marketing. The article points out that the MHRA (similar to the US’s FDA) would like to get its paws on ecigs and regulate ecigs like a drug, including marketing restrictions. Yet the article notes that e-cigarette companies are sort of forced to emphasize the alternatives to smoking to avoid any health claims.
Tony Scanlan, chief executive of the Gamucci brand, says: “You have to tread a very careful line when promoting e-cigarettes. We make no claims other than to say it is an alternative. The way that message is portrayed differs but consumers are getting it very quickly.”
In a similar light, Dr. Siegel ran a post recently on his site about how keeping e-cigarette companies from talking about health benefits forces them to market e-cigarettes in a manner that has gotten the prohibition set up in arms.
