Juul Multipack (Original Ad)
The marketing material I “culture jammed” is for Juul, an extremely popular vaping device. Juul has come under fire in recent years for their deceptive marketing tactics targeted towards the youth. At its peak, Juul was valued at around $40 billion before being hit by stringent regulations akin to those placed on the tobacco industry. Originally poised to help smokers curtail their addiction, Juul really took off once adopted by the youth. The incredible success was due to its ability to make smoking easily accessible, fun and socially acceptable once again. Gone were the days of foul-smelling, dirty cigarettes, as Juul ushered in a new generation of smokers. Furthermore, the modern USB-stick-looking devices made less of a mess, and increased convenience as users were able to take a hit anywhere, anytime, and discreetly if needed.
It should come as no surprise that Juul founders, Adam Bowen and James Mosees, both studied product design at Stanford University. When studying the product packaging, marketing material, and the device itself, the minimalist design language is easily distinguishable. The company uses simple, yet playful graphics incorporating clean lines and vibrant colours. While aesthetic, this design language is used to create a clean, and professional brand image – allowing it to separate itself from cigarettes which are becoming increasingly frowned upon.
Today I’ll be focusing on Juul’s deceptive, and absurd marketing material/product packaging. The first concept I wanted to “unpack” and further explore was the overall innocence of the piece. The company uses cheerful language like “FLAVOR MULTIPACK,” almost as if it was describing an assortment of candies, or juices. Additionally, flavors like “Mango,” “Mint,” and “Creme,” are absurd due to the fact that these pods containing these flavors are merely a cocktail of chemicals mimicking these flavour profiles. Sadly, the closest statement to the truth in this piece is the naming of the “Virginia Tobacco” flavour.
Juul Multipack (Jammed)
I started off by dubbing this “Flavor Multipack” the “Cancer Multipack,” as we have now seen that this “healthy alternative” isn’t so healthy after all. In fact, at the time of writing, there have been 33 confirmed vaping-related deaths. Juul’s unprecedented growth came at a time when e-cigarettes and vapes hadn’t been widely adopted within the market, therefore there was very little research done on the potential harmful effects of the devices. The company used this general lack of knowledge, along with the public’s naivety to sell Juuls as a healthier alternative to smoking. Within the original material, the company labeled the product as “The Alternative For Adult Smokers,” which I changed to be “The Gateway To Smoking For Everyone.” While the product may have genuinely been an alternative for adult smokers originally, the marketing tactics and deceitful messaging strategy hooked the youth in the meantime. Teenagers, and young adults who never smoked started experimenting with the product, and quickly became hooked. One hit turned to two, and two hits turned into individuals mindlessly smoking throughout the day. Addicted, these individuals started going through pods (with the nicotine equivalent to a pack of cigarettes) weekly, and some even daily.
Next, I modified the names of the pods by adding quotations around the existing names, along with 2 of the 5 ingredients present in each Juul pod. By adding quotations I was calling attention to the absurdity of these flavours as none of them actually contained the ingredient in the name. Furthermore, I displayed a simplified ingredients list that would help drive this point across, and hopefully make users realize that these pods were merely a cocktail of chemicals. I considered including all 5 ingredients, however due to spacing issues I wasn’t able to fit everything in the elegant, minimalistic design.
Finally, one of the most eye-catching details is the government-mandated warning label at the bottom of nicotine products. While Juul’s legal team might point to this and exclaim “we’re following regulations,” this warning label has almost become cool, and therefore counterproductive. Using the same font, and spacing I was able to replicate this text, and add what I think Juul would like to say instead. I thought this was an interesting dynamic where I was able to flip all the rosy, cheerful, deceitful statements on the packaging to something closer to the truth, while turning attention away from the one real warning label on the packaging.
Essentially, with this piece I was looking to create an extremely polished product, that on first glance could pass for retail Juul packaging. I ensured typography, colouring and general kerning was to sample in hopes of not drawing attention to the adjustments made. Instead, I want the viewer to have to take a good look at the piece I created to distinguish the differences. I’d hope that viewers who haven’t seen retail Juul packaging might miss some of the changes made, mistaking them for original details. In doing so, I’m able to show the absurdity of Juul’s current packaging and design strategy. A device which has begun claiming the lives of young adults and teenagers should not be sold in nifty, colourful, and deceptive packaging portraying itself as merely an “alternative for smoking.”
Note: I chose Juul because I believe its one of the most current forms of deceptive marketing which has taken the industry by storm. Unfortunately, this trend has claimed the lives of many, and will continue to claim the lives of many more if such practices aren’t regulated more stringently. While I realize this is a Gender Studies course, I noted that nowhere in the “Culture Jam Assignment” outline was any mention of gender-related issues. Additionally, while taking a peak at other blogs I noted a couple other students jamming similar issues. I hope this is ok. 🙂
Work Cited:
Aubrey, Allison. “Juul Suspends Sales of Flavored Vapes And Signs Settlement To Stop Marketing To Youth.” NPR, NPR, 17 Oct. 2019, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/17/771098368/juul-suspends-sales-of-flavored-vapes-and-signs-settlement-to-stop-marketing-to-.
“Data Suggest Teens Who Use JUUL Are Not Just Experimenting.” Truth Initiative, Truth Initiative, truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/data-suggest-teens-who-use-juul-are-not-just.
Haglage, Abby. “CDC Confirms 33 Deaths from Vaping-Related Lung Injury as Juul Pulls Flavors like Mango and Creme.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 17 Oct. 2019, www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cdc-confirms-33-deaths-from-vapingrelated-lung-injury-as-juul-pulls-flavors-like-mango-and-creme-190407573.html.
Sherman, Natalie. “Juul: The Rise of a $38bn e-Cigarette Phenomenon.” BBC News, BBC, 6 Jan. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/business-46654063.
Stevens, Pippa. “Juul Has Lost More than a Third of Its Value, Sources Say.” CNBC, CNBC LLC, 17 Oct. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/10/17/juul-has-lost-a-third-of-its-value-sources-say.html.