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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

June 11, 2014 | 2 min read

Electronic cigarette brand Vype, which recently launched a multimillion pound campaign, has had a poster ad banned after the Advertising Standards Authority found it promoted the e-cigarette as a smoking cessation device.

The campaign, which urged smokers to ‘experience the breakthrough’ of e-cigarettes as an alternative to nicotine, was investigated by the ASA after the body itself challenged whether the ad implied the Vype product was being marketing to help smokers.

Vype argued that the campaign, which also included a TV spot, presented Vype as an alternative product for nicotine users and that it was acceptable to present e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco.

It added that the ads were directed at smokers and nicotine users, but there was “an important distinction to be made” between presenting the product as an alternative to smoking and implying it was a smoking cessation aid.

Vype pointed out that there was no reference to smoking, smokers or to smoking cessation in any form.

The ASA however disagreed and said that the text "No tobacco. No smoke. Just pure satisfaction for smokers", which appeared on the poster clarified the nature of the product and its intended appeal to smokers and that the brand’s "experience the breakthrough" positioning was likely to be interpreted as meaning smokers could achieve satisfaction from the product instead of from cigarettes.

The poster advert must not appear again in its current form.

ASA Vype

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