Summary
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Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul
reveals shocking truths about vaping, showcasing Juul’s impact on the industry and the rise of a new generation of smokers. - The documentary extensively explores the medical and marketing aspects of vaping, providing thorough research and surprising revelations about the effects and accessibility of Juul devices.
- The film highlights how parents fought against vaping and its impact on the medical community, as well as Juul’s connection to big tobacco and the controversy surrounding its marketing campaigns.
The Netflix documentary series Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul reveals some shocking information as it presents the gritty truth behind vaping and how leading brand Juul changed the game. The four-episode docuseries focuses on how Juul made its name in the vaping community and opened doors for a brand-new generation of smokers worldwide. With a total run time of three hours and 10 minutes, it squeezes in some glaringly startling facts, leaving audiences with a new perspective on vaping.
The decision for Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul to focus on the medical and marketing sides of vaping makes for an interesting angle, earning it a place among Netflix’s best health documentaries. It’s also worth noting that the research that was undertaken for this series was thorough and well-planned, bringing the facts of the effects of vaping to the foreground. Ultimately, Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul unveils the truth behind vaping and brings with it some surprising revelations.
7 The Rise And Fall Of Juul Shows That Vapes Are Marketed To Children
Former high school students took part in Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul, providing their perspective on the events of Juul’s rise. One student mentions their experience of when Juul visited their school, providing safety talks to the classes. Juul made it clear that their vapes were not for children, but the damage had already been done with their indirect marketing. After the talk, this student asked the Juul staff member for advice on quitting smoking, only to be advised to swap to Juul instead. One of the big talking points in the documentary is how the accessibility of their devices to minors hurt Juul’s reputation.
6 Juul’s Marketing Directors Claim Ignorance
When interviewing former members of Juul’s marketing team, Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul struggles to draw their opinions on the company’s campaigns. They are quick to put the blame on the company’s marketing director at that time, painting themselves as naive and unaware of the ethical implications of advertising nicotine products. However, one of Juul’s founders, James Monsees, does admit to reviewing documents from the tobacco industry, stating that the information allowed them to help with their investigations into the ethics behind selling their products.
5 How Parents Stood Up Against Vaping
A big section of Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul focuses on a condition known as EVALI (E-cigarette and Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury). Despite this not being caused by Juul devices, it scared parents, who decided to fight back against vaping. Scenes in the documentary are dedicated to showing the truth behind this, interviewing children and hospital workers on how vaping was impacting the medical community. The result of EVALI led to a parental outcry and the forming of PAVE (Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes). Members of PAVE are also interviewed in the documentary, discussing their beliefs that vape flavorings were the cause of the epidemic.
4 Juul’s Connection To Big Tobacco
Juul initially wanted to stay far away from any association with tobacco companies. This changed as the company grew in popularity and struggled to find funding to keep itself afloat. Eventually, Juul was purchased by Altria, the company behind the famous cigarette brand Malboro. Juul’s employees were initially torn at the decision due to their attitude toward Big Tobacco, but following Altria’s purchase of a 35 percent stake in the company, they each received a bonus of over $1 million overnight.
3 Juul Recycled Old Cigarette Campaigns
Juul was brought under fire by consumers because of its marketing campaigns, and Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul speaks of its aspirations to be the Apple of vaping products. Although subtle, comparisons were made due to Juul’s use of positive keywords and color schemes. Also, its marketing was incredibly similar to some of Malboro’s campaigns from years earlier. While the former marketing team members say in the documentary that the “Vaporized” campaign was a mere accident, critics argue that the advertising was intentional and that that Juul’s youth-centric marketing was deliberate (via Vape Green Blog).
2 Juul’s Cannabis-Based Origins
An interesting fact shared in Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul is that Juul originally started through another company, PAX Labs. PAX’s device design was very similar to what many would recognize as a Juul, except the PAX device allowed the manual insertion of tobacco leaves. Users quickly realized that the PAX device could be used to smoke cannabis as well. An executive decision was made by Juul to move away from this association. In an attempt to do so, the Juul device was created, using liquids for inhalation rather than inserting leaves.
1 Juul Changed The Face Of Vaping Today
Juul has been considered an introductory company to vaping, with many using the brand name when referring to vapes in general. Big Vape: The Rise and Fall Of Juul heavily implies that Juul was the creator of vaping devices, but in reality, Juul was just the first one to be heavily marketed. Juul was involved in the creation of nic salts, which were invented by Dr. Chenyue Xing, a Juul employee at the time. The patent was not strictly kept to Juul, however, and nic salts are now included in disposable vapes.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
