Aimee Schiefelbein, Quit Coach, Service Delivery:

E-Cigarettes now come in a wide range of skins (colorful and sometimes flashy coverings), designs and flavors. There are even convenient carry cases available. Multiple websites selling e-cigarettes show models in alluring poses casually holding their fashionable e-cig that just so happened to match the model's outfit. Some articles play to the smokers’ insecurity that smoking is socially unacceptable, promising that e-cig skins make smoking more fashionable and even a point of pride for smokers who were formerly ashamed to smoke in public.

More and more I hear participants in our program saying they bought the e-cigarette from a single commercial they saw on TV or through an ad they saw on the internet. I have found most people report the e-cigarette did not live up to their expectations and did not satisfy their cravings, similar to the findings of Quit Coach Janice McMillan, who reported on the topic in a blog post last spring. Although the e-cigarette is generally marketed to NOT be a tool to quit smoking, most participants I've spoken with had bought them under the impression that it WOULD be an effective tool to help them quit. Many of the ads I see seem to be talking out of both sides of their mouth. One particular brand clearly claimed it is not an effective tool to help you quit smoking but then went on to explain how powerful the withdrawal symptoms from quitting can be. If they were getting consumers to buy it as an alternative to smoking, why would they even be mentioning this? The ad seems to say “we can't claim this is effective in helping you quit…but we are going to tell you how hard it is to quit and associate our product to being the thing that will make the withdrawal better.”

Although I believe many people have every intention of making informed choices, all of us are liable at some point in our life to get misled into buying something that doesn't work or live up to their promises. I doubt people buy the e-cig simply because the colors will match their favorite outfit, but the glamorization of the device seems to push people who were previously on the fence about it to consider it. I must confess, back when cell phone covers were the newest thing, I once briefly considered buying a certain kind of cell phone just so I could change the covers. It seems ridiculous when I think about it now, but it shows how easy it can be to be impacted by advertisement. Some of the participants I talk to bought the e-cig without realizing they have just been misled by a very intentional ad promising a happier and healthier life.

So my challenge to smokers is this: before you end up into buying the next flashy e-cigarette (or, for that matter, any quit smoking device) ask yourself, what is it I want? What is it this product promises to deliver? What is their success rate and what do studies show?