Juul, the market leader in the burgeoning vape and e-cigarette industry, says it is suspending all advertising, and its CEO, Kevin Burns, stepped down Wednesday, MediaPost reports. The moves come amid increasing concerns about health issues associated with vaping.
As we reported last week, outlets including CBS, Viacom and WarnerMedia have begun rejecting advertising for Juul and others in the market segment.
“Burns will be replaced by by K.C. Crosthwaite, a former senior executive at Altria Group, which owns a 35% stake of Juul,” MediaPost reports.
The report notes that Juul has spent $31.2 million on national/regional TV advertising since the start of this year, according to iSpot.tv.
“Estimated spend for each network over that period was as follows: CBS, $5.1 million; Discovery Channel, $5.1 million; A&E Network, $2.8 million; TNT, $2.6 million; History, $2.4 million; Travel, $1.8 million; TLC, $1.6 million; Food Network, $1.6 million; and Paramount Network, $1.5 million,” MediaPost reports.
The sad thing is is that EVERY case of injury involves the vaping of back room created liquids containing THC and vitamin E, NOT Juul liquids.