S'pore firm behind vape maker's use of influencers to target products at youth

It uses third-party hirers, offers tips on how to circumvent rules, say whistle-blowers

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof

A major manufacturer of vaping products and e-cigarettes in China has been using social media influencers around the world to promote its products, with the company's representatives from Singapore driving the marketing strategy.

The influencers, hired via third parties to distance them from the manufacturer and its distributors, are offered tips on how to produce video clips for platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok to target young people.

The Sunday Times learnt of the arrangement after whistle-blowers provided the manufacturer's internal memos and an instructional video.

In the video, the vape producer's marketing manager gives specific instructions to staff of a company in Singapore, including managers in other countries, so that they can pass the information on to the third-party hirers.

The manager, who is an American based in China, also talks about the rules for posting vaperelated content on TikTok.

"This is extremely important. Why? Because if you don't follow these rules, your videos might get blocked and your profile might be affected," he says, adding that influencers should not be too overt when filming the company's logo and products.

Influencers are told that the vaporisers must not be used, whether when inhaling or exhaling, or be shown for more than three seconds in the clips.

Words like "smoke", "vape", "disposable" and "nicotine" are also not to be used, the manager says in the video, which was distributed in 2023 to the manufacturer's partners around the world.

Whistle-blowers had provided ST with the instructional video, internal memos and a voice recording attributed to senior managers in the vape company, one of the largest in the world, in February 2024.

The materials showed senior managers, including three Singaporeans working for the manufacturer, knew about the use of influencers to promote their products.