Elf Bar continues to defy a U.S. import ban thanks to a simple but effective tactic: changing its name.
Imiracle, the China-based manufacturer of Elf Bar, Lost Mary and EB Design vaping products, had its products added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration import red list four months ago.
The company is now importing its disposable vaping devices under a different name, EBCreate, EBDesign and brands such as Airo Max. The rebranded products also list different Chinese manufacturers than those targeted by the FDA, such as iMiracle.
Convenience stores in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York and other cities remain fully stocked with the brightly colored vapes, sold in fruity flavors like strawberry melon and claiming to contain 5,000 “puffs” per device, according to the AP.
The makeover underscores the FDA’s inability to stanch the flow of unauthorized e-cigarettes into the U.S., mainly through large shipping hubs like Los Angeles and Houston.
“E-cigarette manufacturers have proven themselves to not operate in good faith,” said Desmond Jenson, an attorney at the Public Health Law Center. “Until there’s something global that’s a deterrent to selling illegal products this is going to be the status quo.”
Elf Bar generated U.S. sales of over $271 million in the past year, according to retail data tracker Nielsen. Separate data previously obtained by the AP shows the brand hit U.S. stores in November 2021, racking up hundreds of millions in sales over 18 months before being targeted by FDA regulators.
Two weeks after the FDA notified Elf Bar of the import ban, a request to trademark EBCreate was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The filing was made by the same patent attorney who submitted Elf Bar’s previous applications. But unlike those filings, the paperwork doesn’t mention Elf Bar’s parent company, iMiracle Shenzhen Technology. Instead the application lists a Hong Kong company, Nevera HK Limited, the same company listed on new EBCreate e-cigarette packages.