(Los Angeles) The American electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul has agreed to pay 22.5 million dollars in the context of a lawsuit in the United States accusing it of having targeted teenagers in its marketing strategy, announced on Wednesday Washington State Attorney General.
Posted yesterday at 7:12 p.m.
The company, which sells vaporizers in various flavors, including mango and crème brûlée, admitted no wrongdoing, but agreed to limit its advertising.
Juul Labs will thus withdraw advertisements aimed at young people, including on social networks. It also pledges to work to ensure that its stores in Washington state do not sell products to minors.
“Juul puts profits before people,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the lawsuit in 2020.
“The company has fueled a skyrocketing rise in teen vaping. Juul’s behavior has reversed decades of progress in battling nicotine addiction,” he added.
A spokesperson for Juul told AFP that the agreement was “another step in our efforts to give our company a fresh start and solve the problems of the past”.
“We support the Washington State Attorney General’s plan, the objective of which is to deploy means to fight against the consumption of minors,” he continued.
The Washington state lawsuit accused Juul of “flooding social media with colorful advertisements of childish-looking models,” while promoting “fruit and dessert flavored products.”
Until 2018, the packaging of Juul products did not say they contained nicotine, according to the complaint, despite containing up to five times more than similar products.
Last year in Arizona, Juul had already agreed to settle a dispute by paying 14.5 million dollars. And in North Carolina, the company paid $40 million.
The company is targeted by similar complaints in other states, such as New York and California.