Vaping ads fire up before law change

Tobacco companies are ramping up advertising for vaping products in a ‘‘lolly scramble’’ for customers, before new regulations come in.

Kiwi e-cigarette businesses and anti-smoking groups say the aggressive marketing campaigns are a bid to maximise sales before an expected clampdown on how alternatives to smoking can be advertised.

Ben Youdan, from the smoking and health lobby Ash, said the current lack of regulation meant it was a free-for-all.

‘‘It is a consequence of particularly the tobacco company manufacturers having a massive lolly scramble for customers at the moment because there are no regulations about how they advertise or promote these products.’’

A proposed amendment to the Smokefree Environment Act is expected to go before Parliament next month to control how vaping can be advertised.

Youdan said vaping had been around for about a decade but the laws were lagging well behind.

‘‘The legislative process needs to rapidly catch up before it spirals totally out of control.’’

Until recently, New Zealand’s vape market was dominated by local entrepreneurs who Youdan said were by and large responsible and responsive to concerns about vaping.

But big tobacco’s emergence in the market had drastically altered the state of the industry.

‘‘In some ways it has left the domestic market with no choice but to try to compete and catch up.

‘‘Particularly in the past six months, there has been such a considerable change to the vaping market in New Zealand,’’ Youdan said. ‘‘I think it is really going to be very disruptive and it is going to be quite a job to try to undo some of the confusion and potential harm that could be done from having this complete free-for-all.’’

One of the local players Youdan was referring to is Vapo.

Director Jonathan Devery said the company had ramped up advertising in response to Imperial pushing myblu and British American Tobacco’s Vype range on mainstream media.

‘‘Obviously they have a lot more resources than we do. But from our perspective, while the door is open for advertising on the likes of TV and radio and whether or not that door is always going to be open or if regulation is going to close some of those options, in the meantime it has become clear, with how aggressive the tobacco companies are being, [that] we can’t sit back, we have to take them head-on. It is competitive, for sure.’’

The Advertising Standards Authority has had 58 complaints about advertisements for vaping products in the past 12 months or so. Its chief executive, Hilary Souter, said there was a clear theme.

‘‘The main issue people are complaining about is that a vape product is being advertised where a tobacco product cannot be.

‘‘They are saying: How is it that these products are legal to advertise when tobacco is not?’’

British American Tobacco would not be interviewed but said in a statement it supported regulations to set standards for vaping products.

Imperial Brands and Philip Morris didn’t respond to requests for comment by deadline. – RNZ