Tag: Elf Bar

ElfBar Ads Pulled for Misleading Recycling Claims

Credit: VFNNB12
Advertisements for the vaping company ElfBar in the UK have been banned after using the slogan “recycling for a greener future” over concern they were misleading due to the environmental damage of discarded disposable vapes.
A study by Material Focus shows that 260 million disposable vapes were thrown away in the UK in 2022, making them a leading cause of the rise in plastic pollution in recent years.
The ad, banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), gave the impression that recycling ElfBar products was easy and could be done at home.
Vaping products cannot generally be home-recycled; they must be taken to special facilities such as council-run waste centers, according to the Guardian.
The ads appeared on buses and digital billboards in London in July and August. They carried images of the Elf Bar 600 V2 vape alongside the words “recycling for a greener future” and “green awareness.”
Both ads were the subject of complaints to the regulator by Adfree Cities and others.
The ASA instructed ElfBar to ensure that the ads must not appear again in the forms complained of; and that future campaigns did not mislead the public about the environmental impact or benefit of the products.
James Ward, a campaigner at Adfree Cities, called for a total ban on advertising nicotine vapes. “Just as cigarettes scar the bodies of smokers, so has the rise in popularity of disposable vapes left a toxic legacy of plastic and harmful battery metals on our environment,” he said.
November 29, 2023
U.S. FDA Warns Retailers for Elf Bar, Esco Bar Sales

Credit: Pastel Cartel
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is continuing its crackdown on illegal disposable vape devices. The regulatory agency has issued warning letters to 189 retailers for selling unauthorized tobacco products, specifically Elf Bar and Esco Bars brands.
“The FDA is prepared to use all of its authorities to ensure these, and other illegal and youth-appealing products, stay out of the hands of kids,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf. “We are committed to a multipronged approach using regulation, compliance and enforcement action and education to protect our nation’s youth.”
The warning letters are the result of a nationwide retailer inspection blitz over the past several weeks cracking down on the sale of these unauthorized e-cigarettes.
The FDA continuously monitors the marketplace and took these actions as emerging marketplace data led to concerns over their appeal and risks to young people, according to an FDA release. More specifically, the agency’s ongoing surveillance efforts helped FDA identify Elf Bar and Esco Bars as being among the most popular brands in the United States and having high youth appeal.
“All players in the supply chain—including retailers—have a role in keeping illegal e-cigarettes off the shelves,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). “This latest blitz should be a wake-up call for retailers of Elf Bar and Esco Bars products nationwide. If they’re waiting for a personal invitation to comply with the law, they might just get it in the form of a warning letter or other action from the FDA.”
Last month, the FDA issued import alerts for all products under both the Elf Bar and Esco Bars brands. An import alert places these tobacco products on the red list, which makes them subject to Detention Without Physical Examination and allows the FDA to detain a product without physically examining it at the time of entry.
Elf Bar and Esco Bars products do not have the required marketing authorization from the FDA.
June 23, 2023
U.S. Senator Accuses Elf Bar of Advertising to Youth

Sen. Charles Schumer
A prominent U.S. senator is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate an e-cigarette company because he believes it’s skirting American advertising laws.
Sen. Chuck Schumer says Elf Bar products are is wrapped in colorful packaging to attract youth and it hooks them with kid-friendly flavors like peach mango, cotton candy and vanilla ice cream, according to a Sunday statement.
“While the FDA has done much to snuff out the worst kinds of e-cigs that can hook kids, like Juul, there are clear workarounds and illegal methods being used by sneaky actors like Elf Bar,” Schumer said in the statement.
“Elf Bar is littering TikTok and Instagram, using influencers they pay directly, to push the e-cig to kids and teens,” he continued. “This kind of ploy might totally evade FDA advertising rules, and we have to get ahead of it.”
Schumer said Elf Bar may be even worse than Juul given its “shoddy manufacturing, the risk of counterfeit products and its risk for mislabeled nicotine levels.”
In the UK, Elf Bar was found to be selling e-cigarettes with volumes more than 50 percent over the UK’s legal limit after an investigation. The Chinese vaping giant admitted “inadvertently” breaking the law and ‘wholeheartedly apologized’ following lab tests of its 600 brand of disposable vape pens.
Recently, another Elfbar brand is being pulled from U.K. store shelves after finding the products surpass the legal limit for e-liquid volumes.
March 20, 2023
Another Elfbar Brand Pulled From Some U.K. Shelves

Another Elfbar brand is being pulled from U.K. store shelves after finding the products surpass the legal limit for e-liquid volumes.
Tests on samples of a Double Apple flavor Lost Mary brand vape found them to have an average of 3.6ml of nicotine liquid.
Sainsbury’s and Asda have now reportedly confirmed that they are banning the product following the findings, according to the U.K. mirror.
It comes just weeks after an investigation discovered the watermelon-flavored Elf Bar 600 product had at least 50 percent over the legal limit for nicotine e-liquid.
According to UK law, the amount of nicotine liquid in a vape is legally limited to 2ml with a maximum nicotine strength of 2 percent.
Elf Bar, which launched in 2021, sells around 2.5 million disposable 600s in the UK every week.
March 6, 2023
ElF Bar Pulled From UK Shelves for E-Liquid Volumes

Elf Bar vapes are being sold with e-liquid volumes more than 50 percent over the UK’s legal limit, an investigation has found, according to reporting in Metro.
The Chinese vaping giant admitted “inadvertently” breaking the law and ‘wholeheartedly apologized’ following lab tests of its 600 brand of disposable vape pens.
E-cigarettes bought at branches of Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons contained between 3ml and 3.2ml of e-liquid, when the legal limit is 2ml (the article states the liquids were over nicotine limits, but there is no evidence of that. The UK limits nicotine strength to no more than 20mg/ml).
The brand, which only launched in 2021, sells 2.5 million Elf Bar 600s in the UK every week, accounting for two in three of all disposable vapes. The devices cost £5.99 each.
An Elf Bar spokesperson insisted the “highly regrettable situation” did not affect the safety of its vapes.
Mark Oates, director of the consumer advocacy group We Vape, said, “The Mail’s findings on Elf Bars are deeply worrying, and it is clear there have been failings on multiple levels.
“Not only are the levels of e-liquid too high, but checks to make sure these guidelines are adhered to either haven’t occurred or are insufficient. Anyone supplying vapes in the U.K. market should be following the legislation.
“It is incredibly frustrating when major players in this sector appear to behave in a way that damages the reputation of something as beneficial as vaping, and we expect the matter to be fully investigated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).”
February 6, 2023