Smoking is Cool Again

     I had a few jobs before college where smoking was greatly encouraged. As stupid as this sounds, I even tried to make smoking a habit. Luckily, I was stupid and bought the heaviest cigs I could find and felt terrible after each one and gave my packs away, but I enjoy menthols once in a while and I am very close to buying a pound of vanilla tobacco and a pipe like my grandpa. I am surrounded by friends, family, and coworkers who smoke and vape so I find myself wanting this vice more often than I should. My experience is one of many that young people are becoming entangled in because popular media pushes this: smoking is cool again(1). 

Carrie Bradshaw lighting up in "Sex and the City"

    I hate vapes, I hate being online, but people I am close to have let me in on Ripple. A new brand of vape from Britian selling the same thing as before, nicotine free vapes, but this time in a cool, flashy, and easily hidden pen. A flashy website with pretty gradients and soft typeface greets a potential user with a scrolling bar with all the benefits: plant-based and lab tested, proven/tested, recyclable, vegan, no artificial flavors, and NIC FREE! Mentions from Vogue and Tatler follow to boost credibility. Their "Our-story" page is actually insightful and inviting with little blog posts about how the business is doing every few months which also lends a sense of openness to the customer.

SS from the Ripple homepage

     Ripple's online presence is pretty large for a vape brand at 240k followers. It is very clear who the target demographic is: young people. Celebrities are featured using their aromatherapy pens and the posts have an intentional air of art and style put behind them that I like and admire. I feel myself drawn towards this product by the posts alone. 

Justin and Hailey Bieber sharing a Ripple pen

    With this highly attractive marketing and social validation via fashionable icons and fashionable sources, Ripple has expanded its base greatly from Britian right into Corvallis. The Walmart vape section was picked clean of Ripples, don't ask me how I know - or do - it's sexy now. For those who find themselves in need of a vice, the online reviews greatly recommend this one with a suspicious 6319 5-star reviews on the Ripple starter kit. Those that seem legitimate glow with praise for the product and it seems to help them with their nicotine addictions. Many love the flavor selection, and some are upset that it isn't harsh enough, which I think defeats the purpose, but that comment aside, most people love them for how they appear to be HEALTHY. Ripple seems to do a very good job at constantly maintaining that their products are a good positive thing. Their FAQ's page covers mostly questions like: Q -Why should I get Ripple? A - 'Its the dream to savor and cherish - ... everything you need is inside; the latest tech, and 6x aromas to try" Q - How do the Pods work? - A - All pods are detachable and interchangeable - and so on. There is nothing about the potential harms that I can readily find. To ask a question like that it would likely need to be direct and the best hope of doing that is via Instagram as they post daily it seems.

    The only problem I see with the current Ripple marketing strategy is that it is too young, its too, tapped in, I don't see a lot of effort to engage with older smokers - of those who are left - or an effort to appeal to anyone who lives outside of Soho above the age of 30. Undoubtedly there are people outside the target demographic buying Ripple pens, but I guarantee my friends in the trades will not be persuaded by Justin Bieber or niche girly-pop memes. 

    I think that for what the company is: an e-cig manufacturer, I think their marketing is perfect. Showing young people how cool it would be to smoke, knowing that they have been raised around a taboo against it is difficult. So, Ripple markets it as eco-friendly, healthy, and absolutely RADICAL alternative to normal vapes or cigarettes and this absolutely sells. I hate vapes and I thought it was pretty good smoking experience, I hate being online and I thought their advertising was really well done, and I go through their site knowing how harmful these products are and they make sure not to remind me of that - Ripple has their marketing dialed. I only wish they posted, linked, or described the harms of smoking instead of glorifying it ceaselessly - as a self-proclaimed alternative to the harmful forms of smoking, they could do a much better job of putting it down. They will never do this of course, but if I was the brand manager AND had a backbone, I would make sure to be more transparent about these things. 

(I searched but couldn't find the articles or quotes mentioned on their website made by Vogue and Tatler in order to link)

    

1. Why Smoking Is Making A Comeback — And What It Means For Your Health

2. zero nicotine aroma diffusers & incense | aromatherapy the ripple⁺ way