At Juul Labs, our mission is to transition the world’s billion adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes, eliminate their use, and combat underage use of our products. As such, we are keen to engage in discussions with regulators, public health and other stakeholders as to how we can, together, advance this vital agenda.
We do not want any non-nicotine users, especially those underage, to try our products as they exist only to transition the world’s one billion adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes.
Underage use of any tobacco products and ENDS products, including JUUL, is a serious issue that can undermine the harm-reduction potential of these alternative products for adult smokers.
At Juul Labs, we are critically focused on reducing underage access to or use of any of our products. In furtherance of this objective, we are committed to working with governments and other stakeholders to help address underage use.
In the UK, like in every market where we operate, we have a code of practice to ensure responsible and restrictive advertising, marketing and age-gated product access.
While the legal age of purchase in the UK is 18, all UK retail partners must comply with Juul Labs’ “Challenge 25” policy, whereby any customer who looks under the age of 25 must produce ID to prove they are over the age of 18. Retailers are regularly monitored through a mystery shopper auditing programme to ensure adherence. Those that fail to comply can have their supply suspended.
Juul Labs requires owned and 3rd party retail to appropriately age-verify and comply with Juul Labs’ global underage use prevention guidelines, which aim to limit social sourcing by restricting the quantity of products one may purchase in a transaction where permitted by local law.
Juul Labs partners with a leading test purchasing company in the UK as we implement a robust age verification and retailer sales programme in place with all our Authorised Retailers to assist with their obligations in this regard.
With regard to Online sales, retailers must comply with Juul Labs’ robust age verification requirements in respect of all sales of all products online. The company monitors and tests the websites to verify whether age verification is being completed in accordance with the terms of this Age Verification Policy.
Juul Labs is committed to limiting underage appeal through labelling and marketing restrictions that span content, style, location, and medium. As such, we have restrictions on media targeting and marketing mediums to ensure commercial communications are appropriately directed toward our target audience of adult smokers and vapers.
Juul Labs prohibits the use of labelling that depict or resemble popular children’s characters, cartoons, illustrations, kid-friendly foods, drinks or other products that are often marketed to and/or appeal to minors. We support industry-wide standards to do the same.
We have no social media presence in the UK. As a company, we have instituted a global ban on social media advertising and product promotions in an effort to limit all advertising and promotion to specific channels that mitigate the potential for unintended spillover to underage audiences.
Juul Labs does not engage in social media promotions or advertising:
Our customer base is the world’s one billion adult smokers and we offer a limited, conservatively named range flavours, developed specifically for adult palates, to further limit underage appeal.
JUUL products are designed for adult smokers as an alternative to combustible cigarettes.
The target audience for our marketing is current adult smokers. We tailor our promotional communications and materials to adult smokers through narrow marketing channels to limit potential for unintended exposure among those who are underaged and those who are not currently smoking or vaping.
Juul Labs’ marketing and media guidelines ensure our commercial communications are appropriately directed toward adult smokers. Additionally, we use competent and reliable data sources, methodologies, and technologies to establish, maintain, and monitor highly targeted advertising and marketing plans and media buys to ensure that adverts are targeted at those above the legal purchase age (minimum 18+).
Marketing plays a role in making adult smokers aware of alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Juul Labs conducts all of its marketing in accordance with a strict set of company guidelines. These guidelines include assuring that our marketing is clear on the following points:
Juul Labs is also working to stem illegal black-market ENDS products that may contribute to underage use in multiple ways – among them, by offering unauthorised flavours that appeal to underage users, and by sourcing through non-traditional networks and retailer channels.
Juul Labs operates global investigation and enforcement programs that aim to stem black market activities that contribute to counterfeit or diverted products that may be accessible to minors. These activities include training programs for international customs agencies, monitoring of online e-commerce and social media platforms, and cross-border investigations.
Our consumer base is the world’s one billion adult smokers, and we do not intend to appeal to underage users.