KiK E-Cigarettes is set to become the first manufacturer to take advantage of new advertising rules that allow e-cig brands to show actual vaping on TV.

The brand kicks off a £1m advertising campaign at two minutes past midnight on Monday (10 November) in compliance with the new Committee of Advertising Practice code, which comes into force on the same day.

Under the code, ads can now feature e-cig use as long as they comply with strict rules. These include avoiding any connection with youth culture or containing anything that promotes the use of a tobacco product or shows them in a positive light.

“The new advertising rules are a positive step to show people how vaping can help them move away from tobacco products,” said KiK E-Cigarettes chief executive Sandy Chadha.

He added the first batch of 430 30-second slots on several channels including ITV, Channel 4, Dave and More 4 would run throughout November, supported by billboard advertising in prime locations beginning in Manchester then rolling out to Birmingham and London in an initial blitz worth £400,000.

Chadha said he would follow up the TV campaign with a further £600,000 of TV advertising in January. “It’s a good time because the new year is when people try to give up smoking.”.

Chadha said he expected the ads would get noticed by at least seven million people at least three or four times.

KiK E-Cigarettes has bought 680,000 surplus bottles of liquid in anticipation of post-advertising sales. Each bottle is equivalent to 200 cigarettes.

Chadha also claimed KiK had been talking to Tesco and Asda for the past six months about stocking the product but they were “treading very carefully.”

Topics