There are currently 460-plus e-cigarette brands and 7,800 flavors on the shelves and R.J. Reynolds clearly intends to boost both those numbers by debuting its Vuse brand nationally next week.
According to published reports the tobacco company is aiming the join the ranks of Altria Group and Lorillard, with the latter holding 40 percent of the e-cig market. Traditional tobacco companies have been slow to move into the e-cigarette segment but that scenario will likely change radically in the next year.
R.J. Reynolds is looking to market Vuse as "a product that delivers a consistent experience every single time," said spokesman Richard Smith. It launched the e-cigarette in Colorado in the summer of 2013.
The news comes on the heels of a study on e-cigarette marketing amidst regulatory scrutiny and claims marketing is targeting young children. The study, released earlier this week, notes 10 new brands have entered the market between 2012 and 2013, and over 240 new flavors are within customer reach.
"The number of e-cigarette brands sold on the Internet is large and the variety of flavors staggering," said Dr. Shu-Hong Zhu, of the University of California, San Diego, department of family and preventive medicine.
As of the start of 2014, states the study published in Tobacco Control, there were 460-plus e-cigarette brands and 7,800 flavors. Nearly every brand offers menthol and tobacco options in addition to flavors mimicking alcohol drink flavors, fruit and dessert flavors.
The study also states that about 10 percent of brands make a claim that the device can help smokers kick the habit. That claim is drawing greater scrutiny by lawmakers and health organizations as there is increasing debate on whether such devices can help wanna-be quitters and if the devices are as safe as initially believed.
About 10 percent of older and newer e-cigarette brands made direct claims that the products can help smokers quit, Zhu and colleagues said in a journal news release. Federal agencies are reviewing marketing efforts given concerns that the device is proving increasingly alluring to young teens. More municipalities are banning the use of e-cigarettes in public places as well.
"The product has caught on fire," said Shu-Hong Zhu, who stated there is continuing research on how the increasing number of flavors may be impacting certain user demographics, such as children and young teens.
