ASA Adjudication on Hubbly Bubbly

A variety of ads for Hubbly Bubbly electronic cigarettes were challenged by the government agency that regulates e-cigarettes. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) concluded that one of the ads did not make clear that the product contained nicotine as required by the country’s Advertising Code. The ads also included celebrity endorsements, depicted models who did not appear to be over the age of 25 using the devices, and were filmed in cool and trendy scenes. The ASA concluded that these communications created an association with youth culture and would be likely to appeal to those under the age of 18 in breach of the Code.  The ASA ordered the company not to use the ads again in their current form. 

ASA Adjudication on Hubbly Bubbly Ltd, Complaint Ref: A15-300973 (2015).

  • United Kingdom
  • Jun 10, 2015
  • Advertising Standards Authority
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Parties

Plaintiff The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA)

Defendant Hubbly Bubbly Ltd

Legislation Cited

Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP Code), Edition 12, Rule 22.1, 22.7, 22.9, 22.10 (Electronic cigarettes)

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

"The ads must not appear again in their current form. We welcomed Hubbly Bubbly Ltd's willingness to withdraw or amend their advertising and reminded them to ensure that their ads did not appeal particularly to people under 18 years of age and did not show or feature, in a significant role, people who were or who seemed to be, under 25 years of age. We also told them to ensure that their marketing communications which identified, directly or indirectly, specific products or product ranges contained a clear indication that some or all of those products contained nicotine, where that was the case."
"We considered that the overall impression of the ad was of a cool and trendy scene in which e-cigarettes featured prominently, and that, as with ad (b) above, the combination of this with the apparent youth of many of the people shown served to associate the ad with youth culture and render it likely to appeal particularly to those aged under 18. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code."
"The Code stipulated that people shown using e-cigarettes or playing a significant role in a marketing communication for e-cigarettes and related products must neither be, nor seem to be, under the age of 25. Although we were satisfied that the man shown in ad (c) did fulfil that requirement, we considered that the women featured in all three ads − all of whom were using e-cigarettes − did not appear to be 25 or older. We therefore concluded that the ads breached the Code."
"The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must state clearly if an advertised product contained nicotine. The ASA understood that Hubbly Bubbly sold both nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-cigarettes. ... Ad (b) showed e-cigarettes in use. Although we understood that the specific products featured did not contain nicotine, we considered that, because the image appeared as a banner on the advertiser's Twitter page, it served to promote the whole range of products available from Hubbly Bubbly. Because some Hubbly Bubbly products contained nicotine, we considered that that information should be clearly presented to consumers either within the image or as part of the surrounding messaging on the page. In the absence of any such statement, we concluded that ad (b) breached the Code."