UK: Advertising rules flouted by Chinese vaping giant

The Guardian reports “A leading e-cigarette brand is flouting rules
to promote its products to young people in Britain, an Observer investigation has found, as experts warn that brightly coloured, sweet- flavoured vapes are being used by children as young as seven. Elf Bar,
a Chinese-owned vaping giant that has seen the use of its products by under-18s soar in the past year, is being promoted by social influencers, who in some cases claim to be paid for the promotions and benefit from free products. The videos – many of which show influencers vaping on camera – are not age restricted and are not always clearly marked as

ads. Some have attracted hundreds of thousands of views on the short- form video app TikTok, which is used by half of eight to 11-year-olds and three-quarters of 16 to 17-year- olds.