Are tobacco companies replacing Joe Camel with Q*bert? The marketing of ‘vapentertainment’ 

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Thesmokedon on Youtube shows viewers the latest in ‘vapentertainment’ (see video below).

Despite FDA warnings against e-cigarettes designed to look like toys and electronics that appeal to young people, manufacturers are selling vape devices featuring fully functional, Nintendo-like video games popular with adolescents. Some games, designed with the “retro” appeal of Mario or Pac-Man, offer rewards for taking puffs of nicotine, along with appealing flavors banned by the federal agency.

Vaping products are restricted to adults 21 and over, and a new FDA rule, effective Sept. 30 requires retailers to use a photo ID to verify the age of anyone under the age of 30 trying to purchase tobacco products. But a recently released study says cross-promoting electronic nicotine systems (ENDS) with video games pose serious health risks—especially at a time when e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among underage middle and high school students nationwide. 

According to the FDA, the earlier someone starts smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products, the more likely they are to become addicted.

“The incorporation of video games into vaping devices raises public health concerns regarding the potential appeal to younger users and the potential to escalate nicotine use and dependence,” researchers say in the study published earlier this month in Substance Use & Misuse. 

Combining entertainment and substance use in a single device “complicates public health messaging and regulatory efforts aimed at reducing youth vaping,” say researchers, including first author Jennifer Unger, professor of population and public health sciences at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. “It is crucial to address these devices through robust policy, educational initiatives, and enforcement of existing policies.”

‘Vapentertainment’ products

Some of the latest “vapentertainment” products include:

While e-cigarette aerosol (known as “vapor”) generally contains lower levels of harmful chemicals than cigarette smoke, FDA officials say no tobacco products are safe. Most e-cigarettes—initially posited as “harm reduction” tools—contain nicotine derived from tobacco, which is highly addictive and can disrupt adolescent brain development. They may contain other harmful chemicals, such as acrolein and acetaldehyde. 

Vaping nicotine and computer gaming are also behavioral addictions prevalent among adolescents in recent decades, researchers say, and they often occur at the same time—raising the stakes.

“The combination of video gaming and vaping may introduce additional reinforcers to the vaping experience, such as the satisfaction derived from winning a game, over and above the effects of nicotine alone,” the researchers say. “Alternatively, losing the game could lead to negative affect, prompting adolescents to vape to increase their mood. These products also could mislead children and adolescents by obscuring the product’s true purpose, potentially leading to accidental exposures to vaping.”

Adding games to vape devices likely attracts naïve users to these products and increases their intensity of use and frequency of puffs, agrees Elisa Trucco, associate professor and director of the Research on Adolescent and Child Health (ReACH) Lab at Florida International University. That, in turn, is likely to increase the risk of addiction and impairments to brain areas involved in mood regulation, memory, and overall cognitive function, she says.

“Essentially, tobacco companies are now replacing Joe Camel with Q*bert,” Trucco says.  “Vaping has always appealed to teens to increase social rewards, such as popularity. With these new products, the rewarding effects are magnified by the possibility of getting the high score.”

References

Unger, J. B., Vassey, J., Soto, D. W., & Galimov, A. (2024). Vaping Devices with Video Games. Substance Use & Misuse, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2024.2392547