Tobacco industry narratives of e-cigarette use in the UK: a qualitative framing analysis

Public health actors have expressed concerns over the entry of the tobacco industry into the UK e-cigarette market. It is important to be aware of the tobacco industry's involvement and stated aims for e-cigarettes in the UK, given their historical attempts to divert attention from and escape responsibility for the harms caused by combustible cigarettes. The use of e-cigarettes amongst young people in the UK has remained constant, despite the law prohibiting sales to adolescents and claims by manufacturers and others that they are designed solely as a tool to quit smoking. This study sought to examine how tobacco-related organizations in the UK e-cigarette market frame the use of e-cigarettes. Publicly available materials between September 2015 and June 2023 were collected from four transnational tobacco companies which have invested in the e-cigarette category, and from a UK e-cigarette trade association. A qualitative framing analysis of materials was conducted guided by relevant frameworks from the Commercial Determinants of Health literature. The analysis identified seven framings used by tobacco-related organizations relevant to e-cigarette usage in the UK. These were: co-opting of harm reduction; consumer choice; following the 'evidence'; insufficient evidence; the right kind of regulation; 'us' and 'them' rhetoric and marketing and advertising. By highlighting tobacco-related organizations' e-cigarette framings and contradictions, this study raises awareness of the rhetorical strategies used by the industry which aim to relegitimize tobacco companies in the political and public spheres.