Vape retailers using sneaky tactics to sell dangerous products online

Online vape retailers have resorted to desperate measures to hide their illegal sales, masking e-cigarettes inside secret compartments of hair brushes, soft drink cans and clocks.

Vaping companies are promoting 'how to hide your vape content' on popular social media platforms. Picture: Tiktok

Alarming new research shows the sneaky tactics behind the vaping industry’s use of social media to promote and sell dangerous products to young teens.

The Herald Sun can reveal key findings by Quit and VicHealth show a deluge of pro-vaping content online, with more than 18.1 billion posts using the hashtag #vape on TikTok.

The research found that Instagram is home to more than 18,000 ‘vaping influencer’ profiles solely dedicated to promoting vaping, with 16.4 million posts tagged #VapeLife.

Shockingly, some brazen e-cigarette retailers were also caught advertising vape products with secret compartments to hide your vape in – including hair brushes, soft drink cans and clocks.

Social media accounts appearing to post non-commercial vape content were in some cases found to take users straight to an online vape store.

VicHealth chief executive Dr Sandro Demaio said the “undeniable goal” of the vaping industry was to drive e-cigarette sales and hook young people on nicotine.

“The vaping industry and pro-vaping influencers are flooding social media channels with content that suggests to young people that vaping is funny, cool, sexy and glamorous,” Dr Demaio said.

Online retailers have adopted sneaky tactics to hide their illegal sales of e-cigarettes. Picture: supplied

“They’re sending a dangerous message to Australian kids that vaping is a socially acceptable and a normal part of life, when it’s not.

“E-cigarettes contain up to 200 toxic chemicals, some of which are incredibly harmful and don’t belong in our lungs.”

Dr Demaio said he was “shocked” that retailers were creating products that were specifically designed to hide toxic and illegal products.

“It’s one thing to have e-cigarettes come in various flavours … but it’s another to create whole fake products like hair brushes that have a hidden section to keep your vapes in.”

Cancer Council Victoria chief executive and former Quit director Todd Harper said the impacts of vaping were “quite profound” on young people.

“It’s a deliberate strategy by companies to recruit an audience that we know is highly susceptible to this type of messaging,” Mr Harper said.

“The scope of the research, extent and the impact was quite shocking and when you combine that with the rapidly increasing rates of use of e-cigarettes among young people, you realise tragically how effective these marketing strategies have been.”

Mr Harper said as well as stopping the promotion of e-cigarettes on social media, both Quit and VicHealth wanted to see the Federal Government put an end to the sale of e-cigarettes online.

“Social media sites like TikTok and Instagram have an important role to play. 18.1 billion #vape posts is an outrageous number.

“The concept of vaping influencers is abhorrent. It’s time social media companies crackdown on hosting any content which normalises or promotes vaping.”

The vaping epidemic has exploded in recent years, with youths often targeted by retailers. Picture: supplied

Leading paediatrician Dr Lexi Frydenberg, who is a mum of three teenagers, said she had seen the vaping epidemic “explode” in recent years.

“When we are trying to find out about vaping and what our children are learning on social media, I often tell parents it’s really important to educate themselves about the health risks,” Dr Frydenberg said.

“It’s important to speak to your kids early about vaping. Kids are vaping or getting exposed to or offered vapes through social media and through other children at a much younger age than other drugs.”

TikTok trust and safety country policy manager Jed Horner said: “Content that depicted or promoted the sale or trade of tobacco, including vaping products, was prohibited its community guidelines.”

“We’ve now taken action against the content identified. It has either been removed, or where appropriate, has been age-restricted, so it can’t be seen by users between 13-18 years of age,” he said.

In August, a young student was rushed to hospital after reportedly collapsing in a vaping incident at a Bannockburn school.

The Herald Sun has previously found a number of Instagram accounts, some run by students, offering vapes for sale for as little as $13.

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