Marketing Standards
SALES AND MARKETING PRINCIPLES
HIGS firmly advocates for endeavors to prevent the accessibility of vaping products to young individuals, and HIGS fully embraces limitations and directives on marketing that will curtail the exposure of the youth to the advertising and endorsement of all vaping commodities.
HIGS strongly supports endeavors to obstruct the accessibility of vaping products to young individuals, and HIGS wholeheartedly welcomes constraints and recommendations concerning marketing that will diminish the youth's exposure to the advertising and endorsement of all vaping products.
Simultaneously, HIGS remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that adult smokers are provided with equitable access to accurate and factual information regarding vaping products, along with a diverse range of vaping commodities.
HIGS has established the ensuing fundamental principles:
- Our commodities are designed as nicotine alternatives for adult smokers exclusively.
- Our commodities must not be promoted to individuals under 18 years of age.
- Our commodities should not be vended to or utilized by individuals below 18 years of age.
MARKETING STANDARDS
The guidelines that govern the marketing of HIGS products are as follows:
- Advertising involving HIGS products should avoid using cartoons, cartoon imagery, anime, or any other designs that might appeal to young audiences or be associated with youth culture.
- 2. Marketing for HIGS products should not mimic trademarks, trade dress, or branding commonly seen in products marketed to young people or associated with youth culture.
- 3. While our advertisements may encourage individuals to switch from cigarettes, HIGS products should not be portrayed as smoking cessation devices.
- 4. HIGS products must not be marketed by claiming therapeutic benefits, safety, or healthiness for consumers, and should not be promoted as products that do not produce secondhand health effects.
- 5. Product labels must accurately depict the ingredients present in each product, and marketing communications should explicitly state the presence of nicotine if applicable.
- 6. Our marketing efforts should focus on current cigarette users and should not be designed to encourage non-smokers to start using vaping products.
- 7. No healthcare professionals should be used in marketing efforts to endorse HIGS products, either directly or indirectly.
- 8. Spokespeople and individuals (including influencers) featured in marketing or advertising materials should appear to be at least 25 years old.
- 9. Print advertisements should only appear in channels and publications with a demographic of adults (21+), ensuring responsible targeting.
- 10. Event marketing or sponsorships should be limited to events with an adult demographic (18+), maintaining responsible promotion.
- 11. Any outdoor advertisements, including digital formats (excluding mobile advertisements, e.g., on transportation), must be located at least 300 meters away from primary or secondary schools, youth-oriented facilities, or childcare facilities.
- 12. Unless aimed exclusively at trade audiences, marketing communications promoting [nicotine-containing e-cigarettes and their components HIGS products [not licensed as medicines] are not allowed in the following media:
- Newspapers, magazines, and periodicals
- Online media and certain other electronic media
- 13. In compliance with the enforcement notice from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), we refrain from placing or encouraging third parties to place content on TikTok related to vaping products and their components that is labeled as "paid partnership" or "#ad".
- 14. Advertisements directly or indirectly promoting unlicensed vaping products and their components should not appear on public TikTok accounts, whether in 'paid for' or 'non-paid for' contexts. This also aligns with TikTok's branded content policy and community guidelines.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: Globally, Twitter has a strict policy against promoting tobacco products, their accessories, and associated brands. This prohibition extends to all types of cigarettes, including alternatives that replicate the act of smoking.
Twitter explicitly prohibits the intentional marketing or advertising of the following products and services to minors: Tobacco products or accessories, including electronic cigarettes* (Please note that items marked with an asterisk are universally barred from advertising on Twitter.)
TikTok: Within our platform, we do not allow the display or endorsement of recreational drug use, or the trading of alcohol, tobacco products, or drugs. Our definition of tobacco products encompasses vaping products, smokeless or combustible tobacco products, synthetic nicotine products, E-cigarettes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems.
Instagram: Content that encourages the use of specific regulated items, such as tobacco or vaping products, adult-oriented products and services, or pharmaceutical drugs, is restricted. (We remove content that attempts to sell or swap most regulated items.) Utilizing technology, we work to prevent individuals under 16 years old from being exposed to content that promotes non-medical drugs and marijuana, even if they follow the account sharing such content.
Facebook: Advertisements are not allowed to promote the sale or usage of tobacco or nicotine products and related accessories, unless they pertain to cessation products. Ads must refrain from endorsing delivery devices like electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, or any other products that simulate smoking or are intended for use with tobacco or nicotine products.
PREVENTING CHILD ACCESS TO VAPING PRODUCTS
1. HIGS stands firmly behind efforts to prevent youths from accessing our products and other tobacco items.
2. HIGS anticipates complete adherence by all vendors of tobacco and vaping products to age-related restrictions stipulated in national laws.
3. HIGS wholeheartedly supports the observance of requirements for child-resistant packaging across all of HIGS's product range.
4. HIGS gives its unwavering support to legislation that imposes penalties on retailers or individuals who sell vaping products to minors, and on minors who are found to be in possession of such items.
5. Establishments selling HIGS products, including vape shops and other retailers, are urged to adopt strict policies targeting underage individuals. These policies should mandate employees to request identification from anyone who appears to be younger than 25 years old.
6. HIGS encourages specialized retailers focusing on e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to take measures to either prevent minors from entering their premises or promptly ask unaccompanied minors to leave.
7. HIGS advocates for the prominent display of cautionary signs, which could read (a) Unaccompanied Minors Are Not Permitted, (b) Sale of Vaping Products to Minors is Prohibited, or (c) Underage Sales Not Allowed.
8. HIGS provides online purchasing options for its products, with access restricted to adults through mechanisms such as direct verification of approved photo identification upon delivery or utilization of age verification technologies facilitated by independent third-party agencies employing public records databases.
9. Packaging and marketing materials for HIGS's vaping products must incorporate a warning that clearly states "Sale of this product to minors is prohibited," or equivalent language, irrespective of any legal requirements.
10. HIGS refrains from selling disposable products containing more than 2ml of e-liquid.