META Meta Platforms Inc

By Jennifer Maloney 

E-cigarette startup Juul Labs Inc. said it is shutting down its Facebook and Instagram accounts and curbing its use of other social media in the U.S., part of the company's response to the Food and Drug Administration's call for changes to curb underage e-cigarette use.

Sales of Juul's vaporizers and flavored nicotine liquids have surged over the past year, fueled in part by the product's popularity among teenagers and children. Its rapid growth was helped by the San Francisco company's use of social media to advertise its products as well as user-generated posts that glamorized Juul.

"There is no question that this user-generated social media content is linked to the appeal of vaping to underage users," Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

When Juul launched in 2015, the startup was able to use marketing practices, including social media and billboard ads, that are restricted for big tobacco companies. Advertising on social media and other platforms pitched Juul as a cool lifestyle accessory with images of people in their 20s and 30s.

In addition to curbing its social media activity, Juul plans to stop selling nicotine liquids with flavors like mango, fruit and creme at bricks-and-mortar stores. It will continue to sell all its products on its website, which the company says has age-verification technology. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on Juul's retail shift.

The moves come as the FDA prepares to announce sharp restrictions on the sale of such products, part of its effort to combat use of e-cigarettes by teens and children. The new rules would be effective immediately.

In addition to shutting down its U.S. Facebook and Instagram accounts, Mr. Burns said his company's presence on Twitter would be limited to nonpromotional communications, and that Juul would use YouTube for posting testimonials of former adult smokers who have switched to its product.

Mr. Burns said he would also ask Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to prohibit posts that promote underage use of e-cigarettes. A Facebook spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Our intent was never to have youth use Juul," Mr. Burns, who joined Juul about a year ago, wrote in Tuesday's blog post. "But intent is not enough, the numbers are what matter, and the numbers tell us underage use of e-cigarette products is a problem. We must solve it."

Analysts say more than half of Juul's sales come from four flavors: mango, fruit, cucumber and creme. The company said those flavors, along with tobacco, mint and menthol, were introduced to appeal to adult smokers, but Mr. Burns said the nontraditional flavors had also become attractive to younger nonsmokers.

Juul Labs will monitor use of its products by young people in other countries and determine its social media approach on a country-by-country basis, according to a person familiar with the matter. Health officials in the U.K., for example, have said that existing regulations there have prevented uptake of Juul by teens.

Write to Jennifer Maloney at jennifer.maloney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2018 14:44 ET (19:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.