STOP Advertising Electronic Cigarette

The Court of Rome, with the order of November 5, 2019, prohibits the advertising of electronic cigarettes and inhalation fluids on billboards and on Social Networks, also through the republication of hastags spontaneously inserted by users on profiles of producing Companies. This provision was promoted by a consumer association with a multinational tobacco company that also sells electronic cigarettes and has long initiated a promotional campaign on public transport vehicles. The Rome court's decision is based on the absolute prohibition of Article 21, paragraph 10 of Legislative Decree 6/2016 which transposed EU Directive 2014/40. According to the order, the absolute ban on advertising also applies to social networks as part of the "information society services".

CAUSE OF PROHIBITION

The reason for this ban starts from an urgent appeal, presented by the Consumers Association Asso-Consum Onlus against two companies in the tobacco sector, to obtain the inhibition of an advertising campaign for an electronic cigarette brand, which was found on social media pages like YouTube. These companies defended themselves by claiming that the presentation of the products on the site cannot be considered a form of advertising, since it was an online store reserved only for adult users who knowingly enter to obtain information. The hastags shared by the companies on their social media channels, on the other hand, are to be considered spontaneous contents, therefore freely usable by the Producing Companies.

THE ROLE OF THE INFLUENCERS FOR HYENE

According to a survey aired by IENE on Italia 1, those who contributed to the use of Electronic Cigarettes, especially for the younger (underage), would be the Influencers via social media like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. .. Influencers who perceive a I earn from their videos, stories and photographs following the promotion of these products.