ASA rules on IBVTA advertorial
The Independent British Vape Trade Association is a not-for-profit trade body funded by independent vaping businesses. As such we do not sell or supply vaping products of any type, and we do not promote any specific brand or vaping product.
The IBVTA is committed to promoting a responsible vaping sector that is a partner to government and individuals on the smoking cessation journey. We strongly support the government’s smokefree strategy, which aims for a smokefree UK by 2030 (Scotland by 2034). This strategy is key to improving the health of consumers and the health of the nation. In fact, research indicates that if just half of England’s adult smokers switched to vapes it would save the NHS more than £500 million per year.
According to research from Action on Smoking and Health, 40% of people now believe vaping is as or more harmful than smoking, an increase in 60% in just 3 years.
Another survey study of 28,393 adults who smoke, led by Dr Sarah Jackson of University College London and published in February of this year, found that harm perceptions of e-cigarettes have worsened substantially over the last decade, such that in 2023, most (57.0%) believed e-cigarettes to be equally (33.7%) or more (23.3%) harmful than cigarettes.
This is inaccurate, and the government’s own data suggests that vaping is considerably safer than smoking
The reality shows that vaping is a key step on the journey towards quitting smoking. An IBVTA member commissioned survey of 6,000 smokers and ex-smokers across the country last summer found that 37% of ex-smokers and 46% of regular smokers have tried a vaping device to help them quit smoking. These findings chime with the ambition of the government’s ‘Swap to Stop’ scheme, which will provide vapes to one million smokers to help them quit. The facts highlight the role that vaping can play with the number of 18-year-olds who regularly smoke falling from 24.5% in 2021 to 19.5% in 2022, a 20% decrease in one year alone. A 12% drop in smoking was also recorded amongst 25-year-olds over the same period.
To support the UK’s smoke free journey, and the role of our industry in supporting it, last September we launched a six-month national campaign aimed at dispelling some of the myths and confusion around vaping. As part of that campaign, we prepared some sponsored advertorials for publication in newspapers, outlining the findings of that research survey and which included a link to the campaign webpage on our website.
The IBVTA considered the advertorial to be factual, not promotional, in nature. It did not reference a specific brand or vaping product, and it presented information that could be readily substantiated. Towards the end of the advertorial we included the line “Always buy from reputable retailers”, as a reminder to buy from a reputable retailer, rather than retailers who were trading illicit products, or were otherwise breaking the law.
The agency who prepared the ad on our behalf had submitted the ad to the CAP Copy Advice team in September 2023, who had not raised its publication in a newspaper as an issue at that time.
However, in February of this year the ASA decided to investigate if our ad as it appeared in a Scottish newspaper in October 2023 had the indirect effect of promoting e-cigarettes which were not licensed as medicines and they have now concluded that it breached the Advertising Code.
A YouGov survey in January of this year found that less than a quarter of British adults surveyed could correctly identify that smoking is far more harmful than vaping.
The IBVTA is therefore disappointed that adjusting the balance of misinformation in the media is not deemed legal through any paid advertorial means, not least when we sought the CAP Copy Advice Team’s advice to ensure that as always, we were acting with utmost integrity and responsibility.