Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
BAT hit for e-cigarette ads on YouTube
An image from the “glo sens X Loopy & nafla” music video / Captured from YouTube
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea's e-cigarette ad on YouTube is drawing criticism from the health authorities, as it appears as an attempt to thwart the government's efforts to halt smoking.
On Aug.11, BAT Korea unveiled a music video titled “glo sens X Loopy& nafla” on YouTube and Facebook, two days before the official launch of its new e-cigarette, glo sens.
The music video, which features rappers Loopy and nafla, introduces the vaping device, which appears a number of times throughout the video. Within two weeks of the release, it had surpassed 448,000 views on YouTube.
Glo sens is a hybrid device providing the taste of both liquid-base vapor and real tobacco. The heated liquid containing the flavor passes over tobacco in a separate pod and picks up the tobacco flavor and nicotine, according to BAT Korea.
The health ministry said it was concerned by the new type of advertisement and asserted it will propose legislation to ban vaping device ads on the internet.
“The music video looks very much like a cigarette ad. One can easily infer that it's meant to promote the electronic cigarette,” a health ministry official said. “However, the music video is not illegal because it merely exposes vaping devices, not nicotine pods.”
According to him, banning the battery-operated device from ads was not addressed in the current Tobacco Control Law.
“We will enact laws to mandate tobacco companies to put graphic warnings on vaping devices and ban them from appearing in ads, just like traditional tobacco products,” he said.
Glo sens products / Courtesy of BAT Korea
In May, the Ministry of Health and Welfare publicized the government's comprehensive plan to curb the smoking rate.
As part of the government's efforts to halt smoking among young people, the ministry has been imposing strict rules on tobacco advertising. The current law allows displaying posters in retail stores, placing cigarette ads in magazines up to 10 times a year or only in those on passenger flights or ships.
Tobacco producers can sponsor cultural, music or sports events, but they cannot directly promote tobacco products.
BAT Korea said the music video would remain, as the company does not consider it to be against the law or problematic.
“We have reviewed the legitimacy of the music video with our in-house attorney and confirmed there are no problems. The vaping equipment is an electronic device, whereas the neo pod is where the nicotine is stored,” a BAT official said.
BAT has been carrying out similar online marketing activities in the U.K. and a few other European countries, but it is the first time that the Korean unit has used a music video to promote a new product.