Blu (electronic cigarette)

Last updated
Blu
Blu ecigars logo.png
Product type Electronic cigarette
Owner Imperial Brands
Country United States
Introduced2009;15 years ago (2009)
MarketsWorldwide
Website blu.com

Blu is an electronic cigarette brand, produced by Fontem Ventures and owned by Imperial Brands. [1] The brand Blu sells various types of rechargeable and disposable e-cigarettes with a wide selection of flavored and unflavored liquids. Its products are available in many countries and each market offers different types of products suited to public demand and opportunities. The global headquarters of Blu is located in Amsterdam. Local offices are active around the world to service all markets which sell the brand.

Contents

History

Blu was launched in May 2009 by Australian entrepreneur Jason Healy and other investors in Charlotte, North Carolina. [2] Jason Healy is the founder and former president of Blu. [3] Healy called Blu "a lifestyle brand for smokers". [4] Lorillard Tobacco Company purchased the BluCigs brand for an estimated $135 million in April 2012 and expanded into the UK market by taking over the existing Skycig brand for $48.5 million.[ citation needed ] This made them the first of the Big Tobacco companies to enter into the e-cigarette market. [5]

Skycig was dissolved in March 2014 as Lorillard announced that all of its products would be sold under the Blu brand. [6] Blu eCigs was criticized for selling the company. [7] All the posts on the Blu eCigs’ website criticizing the company were removed. [7] Blu eCigs went from 10,000 to 136,000 retailers selling Blu after Lorillard acquired the brand. [8] Blu eCigs closed their Edinburgh site in 2015 in the US putting 55 jobs at risk. [9]

When Lorillard was purchased by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Blu was sold to Imperial Brands as part of a $7.1 billion deal between the two companies, to avoid any potential inquiries from antitrust regulators, as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco already owned the e-cig brand Vuse. [10]

In 2015 Blu eCigs' website stated, "our position is that electronic cigarettes are addicting." [11] In 2015 Blu eCigs was the second most popular e-cigarette brand in the US with sales of 23.6% dollar, 17.3% unit. [12] Blu sells its products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, [13] Greece, and the Russian Federation.[ citation needed ]

In 2016, the e-cigarette brand JAI (also owned by Fontem Ventures [14] ) was discontinued to focus more attention on building the Blu brand of e-cigarettes. [15]

On 2 April 2022, the Food and Drug Administration issued a Marketing Denial Order (MDO) to Fontem US for its myBlu pod vape device and multiple flavors of refill pods. [16] The FDA determined that the applications lacked sufficient evidence to show that permitting the marketing of these products would be appropriate for the protection of the public health.

MyBlu products

MyBlu flavor pods MyBlu Intense Flavors (44930988911).jpg
MyBlu flavor pods

The myBlu product line was first launched in 2018, [17] and expanded to an extensive range including pod vaporizers, refillable vaporizers, and disposable electronic cigarettes. Users can vape either pre-filled liquidpods, pre-filled e-cigarette cartridges, or insert their own brand e-liquids. myBlu is recognizable by its simple, sleek design, targeting the adult public.

Liquids

Depending on the market, Blu offers a variety of flavored and unflavored liquids. All markets include classic tobacco and menthol flavorings. In the United States of America, the FDA banned cigarettes with a characterizing flavor other than menthol in 2009 in the USA. As such, fruity flavors are not sold in the US but can be found in other markets outside the US.

Nicotine intensity

Blu offers liquids with different nicotine levels. The offering starts at 0% and increases to liquids containing up to 4.5% nicotine, depending on the market. [18]

Research

Blu eCigs were used in a health study involving other e-cigarette brands [19] The study found that e-cigarette smoking and exposure to e-cigarette aerosol has risks of inducing gene-expression changes in bronchial airway epithelium in vitro although less severe than those of smoking analog cigarettes. [19] It further found that these changes were more pronounced in products containing nicotine than those without nicotine. [19] A 2015 study found the average amount of copper in Blu eCigs aerosol was at 6.1 times higher than traditional cigarette smoke. [20] A 2014 study tested 55 chemicals in e-cigarette aerosol for both Blu and SKYCIG devices and found acrolein, acetaldehyde, and propionaldehyde at amounts 86 to 544 times less than in cigarette smoke. [21]

Food and Drug Administration investigation

On September 12, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) issued letters to the manufacturers of the five top-selling national US e-cigarette brands, including Blu, that made up a vast majority of the products illegally sold to minors. [22] The US FDA asked each company to submit to them within 60 days plans describing how they will address the widespread youth access and use of their products. [22]

If they fail to do so, or if the plans do not appropriately address this issue, the US FDA will consider whether it would be appropriate to revisit the current policy that results in these products remaining on the market without a marketing order from the agency. [22] This could mean requiring these brands to remove some or all of their flavored products that may be contributing to the rise in youth use from the market until they receive premarket authorization and otherwise meet all of their obligations under the law. [22]

Advertising

Blu eCigs had the most advertising expenses, accounting for more than 75% of the entire e-cigarette advertising in 2012. [23] More than 60% of 2013 expenses were for Blu eCigs. [24] In 2012 Blu was the first to launch a tv ad as an e-cigarette company in the United States of America. At this time, only television ads for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco were banned in the US. The advertisement included Stephen Dorff and was titled “Rise from the ashes”. The message focused on vaping as an alternative to smoking. [25] Between 2011 and 2013, around 4 out of 5 of the e-cigarette TV commercials were viewed by young people were from the Blu eCigs brand. [26] Blu eCigs puts restrictions on advertising placement in order for viewers to consist of no less than 85% adults "in an effort to minimize any potential exposure to minors," according to a company statement. [27]

Concerns arose from statistics that indicate minors who viewed e-cigarette TV commercials increased 250% from 2011 to 2013. [28] "In 2014, Lorillard's Blu eCigs ran a radio advertising campaign to oppose the effort to amend Los Angeles's existing smokefree law to include e-cigarettes. The campaign urged users to attend city council hearings and testify against the ordinance, and Blu eCigs retweeted posts, used similar hashtags to those of e-cigarette user groups and trade associations, and encouraged its followers to retweet these messages," according to a 2016 report. [29]

In January 2017, Blu ran a "Cigarette Amnesty" campaign in the UK across three cities in which smokers were encouraged to throw their cigarette packets into a shredder. [30] In June 2017, Blu's parent company, Fontem Ventures, also ran a "Science Of Vaping" tour at the thecentre:mk in the UK which aimed to educate the public about e-cigarettes. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorillard Tobacco Company</span> Tobacco firm

Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport, Maverick, Old Gold, Kent, True, Satin, and Max. The company had two operating segments: cigarettes and electronic cigarettes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic cigarette</span> Device that vaporizes a liquid nicotine solution for inhalation

An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or vape is a vaporizer device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that vaporizes a liquid solution called e-liquid, which quickly cools into an aerosol of tiny droplets, vapor and air. The vapor mainly comprises propylene glycol and/or glycerin, usually with nicotine and flavoring. Its exact composition varies, and depends on several things including user behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flavored tobacco</span> Tobacco product with added flavorings

Flavored tobacco products — tobacco products with added flavorings — include types of cigarettes, cigarillos and cigars, hookahs and hookah tobacco, various types of smokeless tobacco, and more recently electronic cigarettes. Flavored tobacco products are especially popular with youth and have therefore become targets of regulation in several countries.

Maverick, is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by ITG Brands, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regulation of electronic cigarettes</span>

Regulation of electronic cigarettes varies across countries and states, ranging from no regulation to banning them entirely. As of 2015, around two thirds of major nations have regulated e-cigarettes in some way. A 2023 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 34 countries had banned the sale of e-cigarettes.

The health effects of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) include a range of potential risks such as exposure to toxic chemicals, the possibility of increased likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and concerns about their possible role in cancer development. Upon their introduction, there were marketing claims that they were a safer alternative to traditional tobacco products.

The scientific community in the United States and Europe are primarily concerned with the possible effect of electronic cigarette use on public health. There is concern among public health experts that e-cigarettes could renormalize smoking, weaken measures to control tobacco, and serve as a gateway for smoking among youth. The public health community is divided over whether to support e-cigarettes, because their safety and efficacy for quitting smoking is unclear. Many in the public health community acknowledge the potential for their quitting smoking and decreasing harm benefits, but there remains a concern over their long-term safety and potential for a new era of users to get addicted to nicotine and then tobacco. There is concern among tobacco control academics and advocates that prevalent universal vaping "will bring its own distinct but as yet unknown health risks in the same way tobacco smoking did, as a result of chronic exposure", among other things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Construction of electronic cigarettes</span> Engineering and chemistry of e-cigarettes

An electronic cigarette is a handheld battery-powered vaporizer that simulates smoking, but without tobacco combustion. E-cigarette components include a mouthpiece, a cartridge, a heating element/atomizer, a microprocessor, a battery, and some of them have an LED light on the end. An atomizer consists of a small heating element, or coil, that vaporizes e-liquid and a wicking material that draws liquid onto the coil. When the user inhales a flow sensor activates the heating element that atomizes the liquid solution; most devices are manually activated by a push-button. The e-liquid reaches a temperature of roughly 100–250 °C (212–482 °F) within a chamber to create an aerosolized vapor. The user inhales an aerosol, which is commonly but inaccurately called vapor, rather than cigarette smoke. Vaping is different from smoking, but there are some similarities, including the hand-to-mouth action of smoking and an aerosol that looks like cigarette smoke. The aerosol provides a flavor and feel similar to tobacco smoking. There is a learning curve to use e-cigarettes properly. E-cigarettes are cigarette-shaped, and there are many other variations. E-cigarettes that resemble pens or USB memory sticks are also sold that may be used unobtrusively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Composition of electronic cigarette aerosol</span>

The chemical composition of the electronic cigarette aerosol varies across and within manufacturers. Limited data exists regarding their chemistry. However, researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed the vape clouds of popular brands such as Juul and Vuse, and found "nearly 2,000 chemicals, the vast majority of which are unidentified."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vape shop</span> Shop selling vaping products

A vape shop is a retail outlet specializing in the selling of vaping products, though shops selling derived psychoactive cannabis products have increased in the United States since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. There are also online vape shops. A vape shop offers a range of vaping products. The majority of vape shops do not sell vaping products that are from "Big Tobacco" companies. In 2013, online search engine searches on vape shops surpassed searches on e-cigarettes. Around a third of all sales of vaping products in one US state took place in vape shops. Big Tobacco believes the independent vape market is a threat to their interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juul</span> American electronic cigarette manufacturer

Juul Labs, Inc. is an American electronic cigarette company that spun off from Pax Labs in 2017. The Juul electronic cigarette atomizes nicotine salts derived from tobacco supplied by one-time use cartridges.

Vuse is an electronic cigarette produced by R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company, a subsidiary of the Reynolds American tobacco company. In 2015, it was the most popular e-cigarette in the United States with 33% market share in Nielsen-tracked channels. However, Vuse lost its top position in 2017, when Juul overtook it to become the most popular e-cigarette in the US. As of August 2018, Vuse controlled 10% percent of the American e-cigarette market, compared to Juul's 72% market share. By September 2023, however, Vuse's market share stood at 41.5% versus Juul's 24.7% market share.

NJOY, LLC is an American company that manufactures and distributes electronic cigarettes and vaping products. In 2017, NJOY acquired the assets of NJOY, Inc., one of the first companies to sell e-cigarettes. On June 1, 2023, the company was acquired by Altria Group.

A heated tobacco product (HTP) is a tobacco product that heats the tobacco at a lower temperature than conventional cigarettes. These products contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive chemical. The heat generates an aerosol or smoke to be inhaled from the tobacco, which contains nicotine and other chemicals. HTPs may also contain additives not found in tobacco, including flavoring chemicals. HTPs generally heat tobacco to temperatures under 600 °C (1100 °F), a lower temperature than conventional cigarettes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pod mod</span> Type of electronic cigarette

Pod mods are a type of electronic cigarette used to vape nicotine through a mouthpiece connected to the body of the device by magnets. These devices are a newer generation of e-cigarettes that are often marketed to a younger crowd that do not wish to attract attention gained through regular e-cigarettes or traditional tobacco-burning cigarettes. Pod mods contain a disposable cartridge and coils.

Electronic cigarettes are marketed to smoking and non-smoking men, women, and children as being safer than cigarettes. In the 2010s, large tobacco businesses accelerated their marketing spending on vape products, similar to the strategies traditional cigarette companies used in the 1950s and 1960s.

Nicotine salts are salts formed from nicotine and an acid. They are found naturally in tobacco leaves. Various acids can be used, leading to different conjugate bases paired with the ammonium form of nicotine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puff Bar</span> E-cigarette

Puff Bar is a brand of disposable electronic cigarette. As of 2021, Puff Bar was the second most popular e-cigarette brand after Juul in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elf Bar</span> Chinese brand of electronic cigarettes

Elf Bar is an electronic cigarette brand manufactured by the Chinese firm iMiracle Shenzhen. Also sold as EBDesign and EBCreate, the vapes are characterized by their fruity flavors and colorful appearance. Although the brand is best known for its disposable vapes, reusable variants are also available but are not as popular.

References

  1. ↑ Mangan, Dan (15 July 2014). "Feeling Blu? E-cig company spun off in major tobacco deal". CNBC .
  2. ↑ "Business North Carolina - March 2013: cover story". 2015-09-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  3. ↑ "E-Cig Maker Develops Foursquare-Style Check-In for Hookup Hunting Nicotine Addicts". 2011-04-19.
  4. ↑ Daniel Nasaw (5 December 2012). "Electronic cigarettes challenge anti-smoking efforts". BBC News Online.
  5. ↑ Mangan, Dan (15 July 2014). "Feeling Blu? E-cig company spun off in major tobacco deal". CNBC .
  6. ↑ "Electronic cigarette company Skycig becomes Blu eCig - Design Week". Design Week. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  7. 1 2 Otterbourg, Ken (March 2013). "Vapor trails". Business North Carolina. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05.
  8. ↑ Giovenco, Daniel P.; Hammond, David; Corey, Catherine G.; Ambrose, Bridget K.; Delnevo, Cristine D. (2015). "E-Cigarette Market Trends in Traditional U.S. Retail Channels, 2012–2013". Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 17 (10): 1279–1283. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntu282. ISSN   1462-2203. PMC   4683368 . PMID   25542918.
  9. ↑ Gareth Mackie (2015-08-26). "Jobs at risk as e-cig firm Blu shuts Edinburgh site". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  10. ↑ Bray, Michael J. de la Merced and Chad (15 July 2014). "To Compete With Altria, Reynolds American Is Buying Lorillard". DealBook. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  11. ↑ John R. Roby (14 August 2015). "Health Department proposes indoor ban on e-cigarettes". Pressconnects. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
  12. ↑ Vonder Haar, Melissa (18 August 2015). "Nielsen: Electronic Cigarette Sales Growth Declines". CSP Daily News. Winsight Media LLC . Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Fontem Venture's Blu Debuts Global Marketing Campaign". Convenience Store News. 8 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Martinne Geller (4 February 2015). "Imperial Tobacco widens e-cigarette strategy with new brand agency". Reuters.
  15. ↑ "Fontem Ventures abandonnerait la JAI pour la Blu | Vaping Post". Vaping Post (in French). 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  16. ↑ Products, Center for Tobacco (2022-08-11). "FDA Issues Marketing Denial Orders to Fontem US for myBlu Products". FDA.
  17. ↑ "Blu launches electronic vaping product MyBlu". Drug Store News. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  18. ↑ [[[Regulation of electronic cigarettes]] "Regulation of electronic cigarettes"], Wikipedia, 2020-04-30, retrieved 2020-05-04{{citation}}: Check |url= value (help)
  19. 1 2 3 Moses, Elizabeth; Wang, Teresa; Corbett, Sean; Jackson, George R.; Drizik, Eduard; Perdomo, Catalina; Perdomo, Claudia; Kleerup, Eric; Brooks, Daniel; O’Connor, George; Dubinett, Steven; Hayden, Patrick; Lenburg, Marc E.; Spira, Avrum (January 2017). "Molecular Impact of Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Exposure in Human Bronchial Epithelium". Toxicological Sciences. 155 (1): 248–257. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfw198. ISSN   1096-6080. PMC   5216655 . PMID   27701119.
  20. ↑ Lerner, Chad A.; Sundar, Isaac K.; Watson, Richard M.; Elder, Alison; Jones, Ryan; Done, Douglas; Kurtzman, Rachel; Ossip, Deborah J.; Robinson, Risa; McIntosh, Scott; Rahman, Irfan (2015). "Environmental health hazards of e-cigarettes and their components: Oxidants and copper in e-cigarette aerosols". Environmental Pollution. 198: 100–107. Bibcode:2015EPoll.198..100L. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2014.12.033. ISSN   0269-7491. PMC   4323666 . PMID   25577651.
  21. ↑ Stratton, Kathleen; Kwan, Leslie Y.; Eaton, David L. (January 2018). Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes (PDF). National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. pp. Chapter 5–21. doi:10.17226/24952. ISBN   978-0-309-46834-3. PMID   29894118 – via National Academies Press.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "FDA takes new steps to address epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, including a historic action against more than 1,300 retailers and 5 major manufacturers for their roles perpetuating youth access". United States Food and Drug Administration. 12 September 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  23. ↑ Chu, Kar-Hai; Unger, Jennifer B.; Cruz, Tess Boley; Soto, Daniel W. (2015). "Electronic Cigarettes on Twitter – Spreading the Appeal of Flavors". Tobacco Regulatory Science. 1 (1): 36–41. doi:10.18001/TRS.1.1.4. ISSN   2333-9748. PMC   5108448 . PMID   27853734.
  24. ↑ Kornfield, Rachel; Huang, Jidong; Vera, Lisa; Emery, Sherry L (2015). "Rapidly increasing promotional expenditures for e-cigarettes". Tobacco Control. 24 (2): 110–111. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051580. ISSN   0964-4563. PMC   4214902 . PMID   24789603.
  25. ↑ O'Toole, James (2013-06-11). "Big Tobacco back on TV with e-cigarette ads". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  26. ↑ Karen Kaplan (2 June 2014). "Teens and young adults confronted by more TV ads for e-cigarettes". Los Angeles Times .
  27. ↑ Hope T. Jackson (2 June 2014). "E-Cigarette TV Ads Target Kids, Study Finds". ABC News .
  28. ↑ Colin Daileda (18 June 2014). "E-Cigarette Brands Battle to Keep Marketing Rights". Mashable.
  29. ↑ Cox, Elizabeth; Barry, Rachel Ann; Glantz, Stanton (2016). "E-cigarette Policymaking by Local and State Governments: 2009-2014". The Milbank Quarterly. 94 (3): 520–596. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12212. ISSN   0887-378X. PMC   5020143 . PMID   27620685.
  30. ↑ Hannah Ellison (9 January 2017). "Behind the scenes: Blu hosts cigarette amnesty pop-up".
  31. ↑ "Mayor of Milton Keynes officially opens Science of Vaping Tour". MKFM. 23 June 2017.
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