Big Tobacco Speaks Out Against FDA Ecig Regulations

In a bizarre turn of events, Big Tobacco is actually speaking out against the upcoming ecig regulations from the FDA. Since day one, the tobacco companies have been vocally supportive of regulating ecigs so this is a strange twist. Most people view the major tobacco brands as mortal enemies to ecigarettes, but this recent change could mean the tides are turning.

It all started this week when Blu Ecigs encouraged their social media followers to contact the White House and ask for the ecig regulations to be redrafted. Here’s a look at what the post said:

“URGENT: Vapers everywhere are taking action to protect their access to e-cigarettes and vapor products by calling the White House to urge President Obama to demand that the FDA rework their proposed deeming regulations so that vapor products can remain on the market. Make no mistake: The current proposed regulations will have a devastating impact on consumers and businesses alike by removing nearly all e-cigarette and vapor products from the market.”

In case you didn’t know, Blu Ecigs is actually owned by Imperial Tobacco. While the brand originally started independently, Lorillard eventually bought them out only to turn around and sell the Blu brand to Imperial. Under the new leadership, it seems the ecig line is trying to save face and appear separate from the Big Tobacco industry.

Many question what the angle might be here. After all, why would Big Tobacco oppose regulations that would essentially shut down vaping and hand them the keys to dominate the smoking market once and for all? The common sense answer would be that tobacco companies are trying to save face. Instead of looking like the bad guys that they are, they are trying to appear to actually care about consumers, all while knowingly selling products that kill people.

Make no mistake, Big Tobacco is no friend to the ecig industry. Even when they make small attempts at supporting vapor rights, they are obviously not pushing for ecigs to dominate the world. If that happened, these companies would go out of business. For most of them, ecigarettes represent only a miniscule portion of their sales.

Why do you think Imperial Tobacco chose to warn customers about ecig regulations?