The inexorable rise of vaping has, like that of so many other products and industries, been boosted by celebrity endorsement. Unlike many other products, however, we don’t tend to see celebrities participating directly in branded marketing campaigns.
Whether or not that is down to current advertising regulations in various parts of the world is another argument but the fact remains that, just like millions of ordinary people around the planet, countless celebrated public figures are switching their allegiance to e-cigarettes and mod devices.
While we encourage as much research as possible to be carried out in order to establish the facts about the effects of vaping, we have every faith in the benefits it can bring to those who choose to make it their lifestyle choice. And it would appear there are many of the world’s most famous people in agreement!
Often in the past television and cinema used tobacco products as signifiers of sophistication and that elusive element of ‘cool’ – who can forget, for example, Humphrey Bogart puffing away in Casablanca? The tobacco companies were more than happy with the situation as millions copied the behaviour of their on-screen idols.
In recent years, as the global public has become more educated as to the dangers of smoking and as governments have rightly cracked down on tobacco advertising, we saw something of a shift. Smoking was used to imply less than worthy character traits and on-screen smokers began to be those with sinister motives or serious flaws. Some might even say that this was accompanied by an increased social stigma being attached to smokers, who have reported a process of marginalisation over the last decade or more.
But are we now witnessing further cinematic evolution? Perhaps the most notable instance came when Milla Jovovich dragged seductively on a mod device in the recent film, Cymbeline, and the silver screen now seems set to feature more and more of the vaping phenomena. One might argue that Jovovich’s vaping was about product placement, but then there are thousands of examples of art imitating life.
Vaping has become an increasingly visible and popular part of both our collective behaviour and our popular culture and, when we see such dyed-in-the-wool party people as Snoop Dogg and the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood vaping away in public, we know significant changes are taking place.
And that pair are not alone. Over the past couple of years, their ranks have been swelled by numerous others from the A-list. Samuel L. Jackson has been spotted as a vaper alongside Kevin Spacey, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Kim Kardashian, Sean Penn, Simon Cowell and Bruno Mars. It is rumoured the supermodel Kate Moss flew her driver home to London first class to collect the device she’d forgotten to pack for a trip to France.
Opponents of the vaping revolution suggest vaping may act as a gateway, enticing youngsters to start smoking conventional tobacco products, yet there is scant scientific evidence to back up such a statement.
Instead, the direction of travel for legions of smokers is firmly in the opposite direction. Year on year, hundreds of thousands of smokers are making a positive lifestyle choice, moving away from traditional tobacco products and using devices that deliver the same nicotine-derived satisfaction, minus a multitude of deadly toxins found in tobacco smoke. They tend to smell a little better too.
And long may that trend continue!
