Major media companies are removing advertisements for e-cigarette companies from their airwaves as concerns over mysterious lung illnesses that appear to be tied to vaping continue to mount.
CBS, WarnerMedia, and Viacom have all decided to drop the ads from Juul and other companies in the e-cigarette industry. The action comes a week after President Trump said his administration is moving to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, is removing the spots from their full portfolio of networks, which includes TNT and TBS, because of recent warnings from the Centers for Disease Control, the American Medical Association, and the American Lung Association, it said.
“WarnerMedia reserves the right to withdraw advertising from its platforms at its discretion,” the company said in a statement, adding that in light of the warnings from major health organizations, “our company has revised its policies regarding e-cigarette advertising, and we 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,” WarnerMedia said.
CNN said last week it would end advertisements from Juul, a popular e-cigarette company, and other e-cigarette companies, according to the Daily Beast.
A spokesperson for Viacom, which owns MTV, CMT, BET, and Nickelodeon, said the media company decided to cease airing e-cigarette ads immediately “after reviewing the recent reports regarding the potentially serious health threats posed” by the products.
The e-cigarette industry has come under scrutiny as a growing number of people are inflicted with the lung illnesses, which have killed at least seven and sickened 530 people in 38 states, and as teenage vaping has spiked.
The illnesses have left federal regulators and health officials under growing pressure to enact harsher regulations on e-cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration are investigating the cause of vaping-related injuries and deaths, and Juul has been sued over its marketing practices, which are alleged to deliberately target minors. The San Francisco-based company is also facing multiple investigations from federal officials and on Capitol Hill over its advertising.
At least two states, New York and Michigan, have moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes.
The vape industry, however, criticized the decision by state and federal officials to remove flavored e-cigarettes from the market and instead believe more research is needed to determine the long-term effects of vaping, as well as what is behind the lung illnesses, as some who have been infected vaped THC, the ingredient that causes the high in marijuana.
They also argue banning the products will cause people to return to smoking cigarettes.
