Nicofresh (2014)

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Nicofresh Ltd manufactures Electronic Cigarettes in a number of kiosks and shops across the UK and Ireland. Nicofresh Ltd also distributes a number of brands of third parties. Nicofresh distributes its products in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland and a number of other EU countries. [1]

Controversy

Racist ad of Nicofresh (2014), created by Bloom

This advertisement, which was a billboard poster for Nicofresh e-cigarettes, featured an elderly white woman sitting on a couch next to a young black man. The man's arms are around her, holding an electronic cigarette. The text next to the image states: "NO TOBACCO. Not a TABOO."

The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) stated that six complainants questioned whether the ad was offensive on grounds of race, because "it implied that an interracial relationship was socially unacceptable." [2]

Consumers would believe that the ad presented a relationship between an elderly and a younger individual, in particular an elderly woman and a younger man, and a few different races, as unusual or socially unacceptable. Because of that, ASA concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence on the grounds of race and age.

The ASA has stated that the ad must not appear again in its current form. [3]

The Idea Behind the Ad

This ad is created by a Dublin-based creative agency named Bloom. In May 2014, David Quinn stated that the ad was inspired by the fact that e-cigarettes are a healthy alternative to traditional smoking, thus, it could be said that they (e-cigarettes) take the taboo out of smoking. Bloom ran this idea for Nicofresh’s launch campaign, which went live in Belfast. [4]

Reference

  1. Nicofresh Vape. Retrieved on January 10, 2021.
  2. MaGee, Ny (Jun 6, 2018). “E-cigarette Ads Banned After Being Slammed as ‘Racist’ and ‘Ageist’”. eurweb.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2021.
  3. Irish Examiner (Mar 29, 2018). “E-cigarette ads banned after racism claims upheld”. irishexaminer.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2021.
  4. Quinn, David (May 8, 2014). “NO TOBACCO. NO TABOO.’”. thisisbloom.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2021.