FDA Takes on Teen Vaping with ‘Real Cost’ Campaign

A clown standing over you while you sleep. The sound of claws scratching on a chalkboard. A zit popping into your mouth. Once you start thinking of these terrible things, it can be hard to get them out of your head. These are just a few of the creepy ideas the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) likens to the effects of vaping on your brain in a new marketing campaign.

Officially launched on September 18, “The Real Cost” Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign aims to educate the 10.7 million American kids ages 12-17 about the dangers of vaping. The FDA notes in this press release that “more than 2 million middle and high school students were current users of e-cigarettes in 2017, and the FDA now believes that youth use of e-cigarettes is reaching epidemic proportions.”

While vaping has been positioned as a healthier alternative to smoking for adults, it is by no means “healthy”. Through this new campaign, the FDA wants to make that clear in the minds of adolescents. With a dark, horror-movie tone, the campaign underlines that vaping can still make your brain addicted to nicotine. E-cigarettes also contain dangerous chemicals—such as acrolein, formaldehyde, and toxic metal particles—that you don’t want in your body.

“The Real Cost” campaign is a nearly $60-million effort funded by fees collected from the tobacco industry. The FDA hopes that it will be effective at reshaping perceptions so that eventually young people view vaping as about as desirable as biting into a maggot-filled strawberry or chugging a glass full of spit.