1. The legal prohibitions apply only to advertisements for e-cigarettes and e-liquids
which contain nicotine and which are not licensed as medicines. So advertisements
for licensed products and those without nicotine are not caught and can lawfully
appear in any medium so long as they do not cross-promote prohibited products in
media subject to the law and are compliant with CAP and BCAP content rules.
2. Similarly the advertising prohibitions apply only to certain media channels. Prohibited
channels include TV, radio, print, online and other electronic media. Permitted
channels include direct mail, cinema, outdoor media and leaflets. The distinction
between prohibited and permitted media types comes as a result of the limits on the
European Parliament’s jurisdiction when it comes to prohibiting advertising and not
from an underlying policy rationale regarding the relative impact of different media.
3. Despite the broad ban on advertising online the law allows factual claims about
products made on marketers’ own website but prohibits promotional claims. This
provides significant regulatory challenges in how to draw the line between these
types of claim.
4. Finally the prohibitions do not extend to advertisements for e-cigarette retailers so
long as they do not promote an actual product which cannot lawfully be advertised.