TOXIC MARKETING: Online vape marketing targets Filipino youth despite law

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Current laws restricting e-cigarette and heated tobacco product marketing in the Philippines are failing to prevent youth exposure online, according to new research from the Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, released Dec. 4, 2025, and echoing concerns raised in a recent statement by the Philippines Department of Health.

The findings come three years after the legal age to purchase e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) in the country was lowered to 18, with the new research based on data gathered shortly after the new minimum purchase age took effect.

The Philippines’ Vape Law, Republic Act No. 11900, passed in July 2022, lowered the minimum purchase age for e-cigarettes and HTPs from 21 to 18 years and permitted flavors in these products that had previously been banned.

The law allows online sales and marketing for vapes and HTPs and places no blanket restrictions on flavors or digital advertising content, but it prohibits the use of e-cigarette flavor descriptors that “appeal particularly to minors,” such as fruit, candy, or desserts.

Researchers say that despite these rules, online marketing on brand websites and across major social media platforms in the Philippines uses tactics strongly associated with youth appeal, including sweet and fruit flavors, concept flavors, cartoons, emoticons, and depictions of partying.

“These findings underscore why flavors and digital marketing remain two top concerns that the current Vape Law falls short of addressing” stated PLCPD Young Leaders Program for Tobacco Control member JL Estrella Pablico. “As long as taste-tempting vapes remain legal, kids and teenagers have a target on their backs, their web browsers, and their social media feeds. While the vape industry prospers, it’s the youngest among us who are paying the price.”

WEBSITE MARKETING TACTICS

The first IGTC study examined how companies promote e-cigarettes and HTPs on official brand websites geotargeted to users in the Philippines, identifying 12 e-cigarette brand websites—JUUL, JVE, Kardinal Stick, Kokin, Mad Master, NIXX Global, RELX, Snowplus, Spade Vapes, VLADDIN, Yooz, and Zalan—and three HTP brand websites for IQOS, MOK, and TEO/NEAFS through Google searches in September 2022.

Across all 15 sites, researchers coded and analyzed every page within two clicks of each homepage, yielding 632 web pages that collectively marketed e-cigarette devices, cartridges, pods, and liquids, as well as HTP devices and inserts, with 12 of the websites also offering direct online sales.

Flavor descriptors appeared in product names on every brand website, with mint or menthol descriptors present on 14 sites, tobacco descriptors on 12, concept descriptors on 12, and fruit descriptors on 11.

Concept descriptors—terms that imply a particular taste, aroma, or sensation that awaits the consumer—featured phrases such as “Grape Ice,” “Menthol Plus/Xtra,” “Papa’s Harvest,” and “White Freeze,” which researchers say can obscure the underlying nicotine content while still signaling candy-like or exotic experiences.

 

PROMOTIONS AND HEALTH CLAIMS

Promotion and engagement strategies were present on all 15 websites, including discounted prices, free shipping, and free gifts, along with embedded links to additional brand or corporate webpages or social media (14 sites), endorsements or testimonials by customers, celebrities, and influencers (8 sites), pay-to-promote affiliate or ambassador programs (7 sites), and referral discounts (6 sites).

Every website carried marketing messages claiming benefits or reduced risks, including messages that products could help people quit smoking, cut down, or transition away from cigarettes (13 sites), harm-reduction claims asserting health benefits or reduced harm compared with combustible cigarettes (10 sites), and depictions of companies as responsible actors capable of self-regulation (10 sites).

Examples of these marketing messages included statements that a brand had “developed a smart alternative for tobacco users, delivering a product that’s simple, enjoyable, and most importantly, less harmful than combustible cigarettes,” that devices were “Perfect for anyone looking to make the switch from smoking to vaping,” and that companies “inform consumers of all relevant safety information about our smoke-free products.”

 

LIFESTYLE APPEALS AND IMAGERY

Advertising appeals conveyed through text and images were also present on all 15 websites, with the most prevalent appeals focusing on flavor (14 sites), innovation (13 sites), luxury or high-end positioning (13 sites), and associations with femininity on 10 sites—equivalent to about two-thirds of the sample.

Other common appeals included references to Asian popular culture, monuments, ideals, or identity on 8 e-cigarette sites and 2 HTP sites (10 total), references to vapor or cloud size and quality on 9 e-cigarette and 3 HTP sites (12 total), and “cigarette-like satisfaction” claims about satisfying cravings for cigarette smoking on 8 e-cigarette and 2 HTP sites (10 total).

Researchers also recorded fashion-focused appeals positioning products as trendy or stylish on 7 e-cigarette and 2 HTP sites (9 total), recreation or fun themes referencing movies, TV shows, video games, sports, books, or music on 5 e-cigarette and 3 HTP sites (8 total), appeals linked to masculinity on 5 e-cigarette and 2 HTP sites (7 total), and cartoon or animation imagery referencing animated characters or illustrations on 4 e-cigarette and 2 HTP sites (6 total).

The website study concluded that e-cigarette and HTP brand sites in the Philippines commonly employ strategies directed at youth, particularly through the use of fruit flavors and cartoon characters or other pop culture references that mirror tactics long used to sell candy and soft drinks.

“There is agreement among virtually all parties that products containing tobacco or tobacco derivatives should not be sold to or consumed by children or teenagers,” said Tuo-Yen Tseng, PhD, an assistant scientist at IGTC who led the website marketing study. “And yet, we are still seeing many tobacco and nicotine products sold and advertised in ways and places that are accessible and attractive to youth— including on the internet and associated with candy or cartoons.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

The second study focused on social media marketing by e-cigarette and HTP brands in the Philippines, generating a list of brands through Google searches, e-commerce platforms, and visits to local retailers before identifying 39 active Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts.

Between Aug. 1, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023, researchers found 5,501 publicly visible posts across these channels and drew a randomly selected sample of 358 posts for detailed coding.

The sample included 152 Instagram posts, all from e-cigarette brands; 145 Facebook posts, of which 137 promoted e-cigarettes and 8 promoted HTPs; 51 TikTok posts from e-cigarette brands; and 10 YouTube posts, including 3 from e-cigarette brands and 7 from HTP brands.

Among the 358 posts, the most frequently advertised product types were open-system, refillable e-cigarettes at 39 percent (140 posts), disposable e-cigarettes at 20 percent (71 posts), and non-refillable, pre-filled pod systems at 19 percent (69 posts).

E-cigarette replacement parts appeared in 17 percent of posts (62), branded merchandise in 12 percent (42), and HTP devices and inserts in 4 percent (15).

In terms of product visibility, 89 percent of posts (319) displayed the product within the image or video, 61 percent (218) mentioned the product in the text, and 58 percent (209) did both, while 30 posts included no specific references to a product at all.

FLAVORS, YOUTH-CENTRIC VISUALS

Posts that referenced flavor—a total of 79—most often promoted concept flavors in 57 percent of those posts (45), fruit flavors in 56 percent (44), sweets in 29 percent (23), and mint or menthol flavors in 23 percent (18), indicating a heavy emphasis on flavors widely recognized as attractive to younger audiences.

Across the entire sample, emoticons appeared in captions for 70 percent of posts, or 251 out of 358, and animated characters or cartoon illustrations or replicas appeared in 19 percent, or 67 posts, with the press release describing the latter as “almost 20%.”

Other youth-appealing visual and textual elements included holiday references in 12 percent of posts (44), aerosol images and descriptions in 12 percent (44), animal images or illustrations in 11 percent (39), innovation or technology references in 11 percent (38), depictions of people using tobacco or nicotine products in 9 percent (34), entertainment-related descriptions or images tied to sports, music, TV, or games in 9 percent (32), and images of people in party-like settings such as bars, nightclubs, or events in 4 percent (16).

MISSING WARNINGS, AGE RESTRICTIONS

More than half of the sampled posts—53 percent, or 190—appeared without any health warning, while 47 percent (168 posts) included such warnings, most commonly as text alone in 160 posts, as text plus image in 5 posts, and as image alone in 3 posts.

Regarding age restrictions, 45 percent of posts (161) carried a 21+ label, 10 percent (37) used an 18+ label, 12 percent (41) used general statements such as “not for sale to minors,” and 34 percent (120) included no specified age restriction, with one post including both an 18+ and 21+ age restriction.

Engagement tactics were prominent, with 39 percent of posts (138) explicitly requesting user interactions such as shares, likes, or comments and 28 percent (101) tagging other accounts or engaging in co-marketing.

Brands also embedded links to or mentions of other social media accounts in 23 percent of posts (82), links to other websites such as brand or e-commerce sites in 20 percent (72), non-monetary promotions like contests and giveaways in 16 percent (58), event mentions including parties and livestreams in 9 percent (33), endorsements from customers, influencers, or other promoters in 8 percent (29), and monetary promotions like discounts in 6 percent (22).

IGTC researchers say this mix of eye-catching visuals, interactive prompts, and limited safety messaging turns social media into an always-on promotional channel that is highly visible to Filipino youth, who are among the country’s most active internet users.

CALLS FOR COMPREHENSIVE BANS

Dr. Jenny Brown an assistant scientist at IGTC who led the social media marketing study, noted that the persistent use of youth-friendly visuals—such as what she described as “emoticons, cartoons, and depictions of partying”—across multiple platforms raises serious doubts about whether these campaigns are truly aimed at adults.

“When we observe marketing elements that appeal to youth—emoticons, cartoons, and depictions of partying—used in association with vaping across multiple social media posts and platforms, it prompts questions about the intended audiences of these brands’ campaigns as well as the challenge of monitoring and enforcement on the internet and social media,” explained IGTC assistant scientist Jenny Brown, PhD, research lead on the social media marketing study.

Brown further argued that one far-reaching option would be, in her words, “prohibiting the depiction or mention on digital channels of any tobacco and nicotine products whatsoever” as part of a broader nationwide prohibition on advertising and product displays.

She stressed that “this is especially critical given that Filipino youth are very active in the digital space, increasing the chances for exposure to advertising of these unhealthy and addictive products,” underscoring the urgency of stronger digital protections.

Judy Delos Reyes, project leader of Parents Against Vape and campaign coordinator for Global Youth for Tobacco Control, emphasized that, as she put it, “To safeguard Filipino youth from tobacco and nicotine harm, we must address the ways in which these devices, liquids, inserts, and accessories appeal to them.”

Delos Reyes pointed out that “enticing flavors are a key component of the vaping experience,” shaping how vapes and heated tobacco products are marketed and consumed, from the liquids themselves to the devices, inserts, and accessories.

“This evidence also supports considering a policy barring e-cigarette and HTP brands from having an online presence and potentially taking regulatory action against people or companies that post e-cigarette or HTP content on social media— whether that’s descriptions related to vapes, vape imagery, or people using or promoting the product.”

The combined studies support several policy changes, including strengthening regulation around digital marketing of e-cigarettes and HTPs, implementing stricter flavor bans that would prohibit all non-tobacco flavored products—including e-cigarette devices, liquids, components, and HTP inserts and accessories—and further defining and expanding what counts as youth-appealing tactics in order to enforce existing prohibitions on elements such as cartoons and celebrity endorsements in online ads.

The research also raises the possibility of barring e-cigarette and HTP brands from having any online presence at all and of considering regulatory action against individuals or companies that post e-cigarette or HTP content on social media, whether that content involves descriptions, imagery of products, or depictions of people using or promoting them.

IGTC has published two detailed fact sheets based on the studies—“Online Marketing of E-cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products on Brand Websites in the Philippines” and “Social Media Marketing by E-cigarette and Heated Tobacco Product Brands in the Philippines”—to support Philippine regulators, lawmakers, and advocates working to close gaps in the Vape Law.

Founded in 1998 and based in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Institute for Global Tobacco Control is a partner in the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use and a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, with a mission to prevent death and disease from tobacco products by generating evidence to support effective tobacco control interventions worldwide.