If you only have a few seconds, read these lines:
- The highest authority of Argentine soccer signed an agreement with the electronic cigarette brand Vaporesso, by which the national team begins to promote in Asia – and globally through the company’s networks – a product that is harmful to health and that has been prohibited in Argentina since 2011.
- Specialists warn that the alliance is part of a tobacco industry strategy to attract young people through aggressive marketing supported by sports figures.
- Electronic cigarettes are not harmless: they contain nicotine – a highly addictive substance – and are associated with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced an agreement to add Vaporesso, one of the main global brands of football, as a regional sponsor. electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.
Thus, the Argentine National Team begins to promote in Asia – and globally through the company’s networks – a product with nicotine that is harmful to health. In Argentina, vapers They have been banned in the country since 2011 for the Provision 3266 of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT).
For specialists The agreement is part of a broader strategy of the tobacco industry to attract young audiences and boost nicotine consumption, with aggressive marketing campaigns that rely on soccer players and other sports stars.
In fact, last week more than 160 civil society organizations from around the world demanded that ban the sponsorship of nicotine sachets in Formula 1 teams.
More than 160 organizations ask Formula 1 to end advertising of nicotine pods
What is known about the agreement between the AFA and Vaporesso
“We are pleased to welcome Vaporesso to the Argentine football family,” says the AFA in the press release announcing the agreement. He adds: “As an industry leader, Vaporesso’s commitment to innovation and excellence reflects many of the values that define our team culture.”
The statement was not published on the AFA website, but the brand logo already appears among the regional sponsors. The “Moms against vaping” collective denounced that a publication on networks announcing the agreement was deleted after questions.
“While thousands of Argentine families fight against vaping addiction that is destroying the health of our children, the AFA decides to stain the light blue and white shirt by associating with an industry that profits from addiction,” they stated on Change.org, where They are carrying out a petition for the AFA to break the agreement.
The one who already announced the agreement with a large advertising campaign was Vaporesso, the electronic cigarette brand founded in 2015, owned by the company Smoore International, based in Shenzhen, China. Upon entering the website, a sign warns: “This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.”
Below the poster is the AFA advertising with Lionel Messi at the helm and a contest that invites you to share stories for the opportunity to “win exclusive prizes”: from tickets to the World Cup to caps, t-shirts and thermal glasses of the Argentine National Team that have the Vaporesso logo printed on them. A video posted on his Instagram account vaporesso_global – which can be seen from Argentina – also announces the agreement.
Checked consulted the AFA about the scope, duration and type of agreement with Vaporesso and whether this type of sponsorship was compatible with its social responsibility policy, but until the time of publication of the note it did not receive a response.
The harms of electronic cigarettes or vapes
Electronic cigarettes (EC), also called vapers or vapersare electronic systems introduced to the markets in 2006. The device produces an aerosol that is inhaled, simulating the act of smoking. It is made up of a battery, an atomizer and a cartridge, which contains liquid with flavorings that can concentrate high levels of nicotine.
In Argentina, The ANMAT establishes the prohibition of import, distribution, marketing and advertising or any form of promotion throughout the national territory of the electronic nicotine administration system called “electronic cigarette”, said prohibition extending to all types of accessories for said system or device, as well as cartridges containing nicotine.
However, they are sold online and in specialized stores. Vaporesso brand vapes are also sold, which announced its agreement with the AFA.
A recent Sedronar study carried out in state and private schools throughout the country revealed that 35.5% of adolescents aged 13, 15 and 17 surveyed said they had consumed electronic cigarettes throughout their lives.
Nicotine sachets flood kiosks and generate alarm due to their consumption among young people
“When vaping you inhale an aerosol that contains a lot of toxic substances, such as nicotine, formaldehyde, propylene glycol, flavorings and a lot of other products, none of them harmless,” explained to Checked Alejandro Videla, president of the Argentine Tobacco Association.
And he added: “The consumption of vapers is first associated with an increase in symptoms such as sore throat and difficulty breathing. Then it is related to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a greater risk of acute myocardial infarction. That is, they are not at all harmless and the only thing new is that what they are producing are diseases of a different nature than those we knew before.”
In fact, At the end of 2019, a serious respiratory illness associated with vaping was describedcalled Acute Pulmonary Injury from Electronic Cigarette (EVALI, for its acronym in English). Around 60 deaths linked to this syndrome, which generates severe inflammation in the lungs, have been reported.
Damage to other organs, burns due to explosion of the devices, poisoning due to accidental ingestion of liquids, exposure to second- and third-hand smoke, among others, have also been documented. One of the myths around “vaping” is that they could be useful as a strategy to quit smoking. However, this has not been proven and, on the contrary, the adverse effects on the health of the population increase, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
