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CBS, Viacom and WarnerMedia Pull Ads for e-Cigarettes

Sep 19, 2019  •  Post A Comment

Major media companies have begun pulling advertising for e-cigarettes off of their platforms, with CBS, Viacom and WarnerMedia now refusing to accept the ads, CNBC reports.

The moves come days after WarnerMedia’s CNN said it would no longer run advertising for vaping products, the report notes, adding that concerns were raised in particular about advertising from Juul, the market leader, in a letter sent last week by the Food and Drug Administration.

CNBC notes that the announcements also come “as the death toll from a mysterious vaping-related illness continues to climb and health regulators across the world pull flavored vaping products off their shelves.”

A spokesman for CBS confirmed Wednesday to CNBC that the company had decided to stop taking future e-cigarette advertising. Almost a week earlier, CNN said it would end ads for vaping products, adding that it would revisit the policy if research shows vaping products are not harmful.

“CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia is also dropping e-cigarette advertising from its other networks. That includes cable channels TNT and TBS, which have both run ads for vaping company Juul in recent weeks,” CNBC reports.

WarnerMedia spokeswoman Jennifer Toner is quoted saying in a statement provided to CNBC: “WarnerMedia reserves the right to withdraw advertising from its platforms at its discretion. Given warnings from the CDC, the AMA and the American Lung Association to consumers, our company has revised its policies regarding e-cigarette advertising, and will no longer accept advertising for this category. We will continue to monitor the investigations by relevant medical agencies and may re-evaluate our position as new facts come to light.”

CNBC adds: “According to ad measurement company iSpot, more than 20 networks have run Juul ads in the past two weeks, costing more than $2.2 million for more than 900 airings.”

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