The Glamour Trap: Celebrity Endorsement and Vape Marketing
The tobacco industry has always been a master of reinvention and in the vaping era, it’s getting craftier than ever. One of its latest tricks? Wrapping nicotine in the glitter of celebrity fame.
Vape companies are now teaming up with big names in music, sport, and entertainment to sell more than just a product – they’re selling an image, a lifestyle, and a false sense of “cool.” The formula is simple: connect vaping to fame, success, and social acceptance, and watch young fans follow.
On platforms like TikTok, influencers with massive followings are paid to parade vape products as if they’re fashion accessories. In South Africa, this tactic is becoming worryingly common.
Take Nasty Worldwide, a Malaysian vape manufacturer that borrowed the stage name of award-winning South African rapper Nasty C (Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ndlovu). His brand screams rebellion, individuality, and adventure – qualities vape marketers know resonate with youth. The company sells disposable vape pens and e-liquids featuring what appears to be Nasty C’s distinctive branding, heavily promoted on TikTok. Some promotions even throw in a free Nasty energy drink with every vape purchase, sold through vape sites.
Or consider Jack Parow, a local rap star with more than 150,000 followers. On his website, alongside concert tickets and merchandise, you can also find vape products. Fans often buy them simply because of the association with his persona — a classic example of celebrity-driven impulse marketing.
Here’s the problem:
Celebrity endorsements can make vaping look normal, even glamorous, especially to teenagers and young adults. By dressing nicotine up in stardom, these campaigns bypass health warnings and tap into powerful social influence. It’s marketing with a dangerous twist, encouraging young people to start (or continue) nicotine use without fully understanding the risks.
Read more on celebrity endorsement.
What needs to change?
The solution is clear: South Africa must pass strong laws to stop all forms of vape advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. The proposed Electronic Nicotine and Delivery Systems Control Bill, now before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health, is a step in the right direction. It would help close the loopholes that allow celebrity culture to be exploited for nicotine marketing.
Public health advocates, parents, and young people themselves have a role to play. We must call out these tactics, demand stricter regulations, and keep celebrity endorsements where they belong – in music videos, not in vape ads.
Because no amount of fame should make addiction look glamorous.