Two separate TikTok advertisements for vape brands Elf Bar and HQD have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for breaching nicotine and age-related ad codes.
The ASA’s Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code states that marketing communications with the direct or indirect effect of promoting nicotine-containing e-cigarettes which are not licensed as medicines are not permitted.
The ad promoting the Elf Bar – from TikTok creator @Panaxhe_ – saw a young man brand the vape as the ‘best out there’.
As a result of a complaint from Imperial Tobacco, Elf Bar claimed to have stopped TikTok content and communications marketing in the UK. The brand also pledged to review and address their monitoring processes for future video content to ensure compliance with UK laws and regulations.
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As for the HQD advertisement, the advertising watchdog challenged whether the ad – featuring Gogglebox’s George Baggs – promoted unlicensed nicotine vapes and featured someone who appeared to be under 25 years of age.
The brand told the ASA that it did not believe the influencer was ‘encouraging viewers to try the product’ as there were no links to purchase the product or mention of price.
Nevertheless, the ad authority ruled that HQD Tech had ‘sufficient control’ over the content of George Baggs’ posts on TikTok, in conjunction with a payment arrangement.
The ASA added: “We told HQD Tech and George Baggs that marketing communications with the direct or indirect effect of promoting nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components which were not licensed as medicines should not be made from a public TikTok account. We also told HDQ Tech that they must not show people who are, or seem to be, under 25 years of age, using e-cigarettes or playing a significant role.”
