Juul, the Silicon Valley startup that’s taken over three-quarters of the US e-cigarette market, has repeatedly declared it is in the business of helping adult smokers quit tobacco. But a new analysis of its early advertising campaign tells a very different story. In a white paper, a team of researchers with Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising have shared their study of the company’s marketing campaign between Juul’s launch in 2015 and fall 2018. They looked at thousands of Instagram posts, emails, and ads, and came to this searing conclusion: Juul’s marketing “was patently youth-oriented.” Juul also appeared to borrow directly from the tobacco industry playbook. That’s a... [Read more]