乌鸦传媒

Cartoon imaging remains common in social media promotions of vaping liquids, even as use of the products has exploded among teens and young adults, new research finds.

An investigation of 1,936 Instagram posts promoting e-liquid vaping products found that 1,608 (83.1%) were promotional, 142 (7.3%) included one or more cartoon images, and 44 (2.3%) included a cartoon company logo.

Researchers at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles identified more than 100 companies still using cartoons in e-liquid product promotions, and the investigation confirmed that posts with cartoons received more likes than those without cartoons.

Their investigation was published online as a research letter.

In an interview with 乌鸦传媒, USC researcher Jon-Patrick Allem, PhD, said companies still use cartoon imaging to promote e-cigarette products on social media because the images are effective and because they can.

The did away with Joe Camel and other cartoon images used to promote cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, by banning the images. But the cartoon ban did not apply to electronic cigarettes and related products like vaping liquids because they had not yet entered the market in the United States.

Allem said the pervasive use of cartoon images in their late summer 2019 Instagram search, and in a similar search conducted late in 2017, confirms that companies marketing e-liquids on social media "continue to push the limits with respect to appealing to young people."

"There are no specific regulations that apply to electronic cigarettes regarding imaging. It is still basically the wild wild West," he said. "We know that these cartoon images appeal to young people. That has been shown time and time again, and it is why these companies continue to use them."

The FDA has to e-liquid manufacturers regarding product packaging and labeling that resembled child-friendly foods like juice boxes and popular candies and cereals.

And early this year, the in closed system, cartridge e-cigarettes such as the JUUL brand, which remain wildly popular with underage users. The guidance prohibits all flavors of the products except "tobacco" and menthol.

More than 5 million U.S. middle and high school students were current e-cigarette users in 2019, according to national survey data, compared to 3.6 million in 2018 and around 2 million in 2017.

Allem said the continued use of cartoon imagery in the marketing of e-cigarette products despite the rapid growth in youth use highlights the need for greater restrictions on their promotion.

In their investigation, Allem and colleagues conducted a search of the hashtag #ejuice on Instagram from August 22 to Sept. 12, 2019.

Each post was coded to reflect whether the image contained a cartoon, promotional content, a cartoon as the company's logo, the company name, and the number of "likes" the post received.

"We identified 100 different companies that used cartoons in promotions, including Bang Juice (n=9), Jam Monster (n=6), Kenji Juice (n=4), Dr. Frost (n=3), Vapetasia (n=3), Nasty Juice (N=3), Momo E-liquid (n=3) and Mr Nik's (n=3), among others," Allem's group wrote.

Posts with cartoons received more likes than those without (mean 133.94, SD 24.34 vs 72.4, SD 4.1; P<0.001).

of Instagram posts from Nov. 13-17, 2017, identified cartoons in roughly 21% images, with close to 14% of posts having a cartoon as the brand logo. Although the newer examination indicates such imagery has become markedly less common (at least on Instagram), it hasn't yet disappeared, Allem said.

"Cartoons are the low-hanging fruit here. It has been recognized in the marketing of everything from cereal to cigarettes that they resonate with kids and increase brand awareness," he told 乌鸦传媒. "There is certainly a strong case to be made that banning them or some sort of censure for the companies that use them is appropriate."

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