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Marketing for Sensa: a ‘zero nicotine vapor product’ from a major tobacco company
  1. Meagan O Robichaud1,
  2. Eugene M Talbot1,
  3. Ollie Ganz1,2,
  4. Melissa Mercincavage1,
  5. Hanno C Erythropel3,
  6. Julie B Zimmerman3,
  7. Sairam V Jabba4,5,
  8. Sven E Jordt4,5,
  9. Cristine D Delnevo1,2
  1. 1Rutgers Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  2. 2Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
  3. 3Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  4. 4Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
  5. 5Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Meagan O Robichaud; mr2142{at}ints.rutgers.edu

https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2024-059074

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    On 1 July 2024, RJ Reynolds Vapor Company (RJRVC)—an operating company of British American Tobacco’s (BAT’s) subsidiary, Reynolds American—introduced Sensa, a ‘zero nicotine’ disposable ‘vapor product,’ in the USA.1 Sensa resembles popular nicotine-containing disposable devices from brands such as EB Create, Lost Mary and Geek Bar (figure 1), as well as BAT’s own Vuse Go 5000 offered outside the USA.2–6 While several ‘zero nicotine’ devices are available, Sensa is the first ‘zero nicotine’ disposable device from a major tobacco company. Since Sensa contains neither nicotine nor tobacco, RJRVC claims exemption from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.7

    Figure 1

    Comparison of a Sensa ‘zero nicotine’ disposable device (first device from the left) to popular brands of nicotine-containing disposable devices: EB Create’s BC5000, Lost Mary’s OS5000 and Geek Bar’s Meloso device. Images were obtained from the following online vape retailers: Electric Tobacconist, Mi-pod (a trademark owned by SV3) and Melca Distro.

    Sensa launched in 22 states and has been promoted through several channels.8 Direct-mail advertisements (ads) sent in July 2024 included coupons for US$7–US$10 off as well as links to additional offers through the age-gated brand website (figure 2). The ad came in a shiny purple foil envelope bearing the brand logo and a warning label. The inner mailer described Sensa as ‘user-friendly, flavour forward’ and listed device features, including transparent casing to view ‘liquid levels’, a locking safety switch, and a rechargeable, removable battery for ‘responsible disposal’. This ad showcased Sensa’s six flavour …

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    Footnotes

    • X @Robichaud_MO, @hanno_ery, @sejordt, @crisdelnevo

    • Contributors CDD and OG conceptualised the manuscript, MOR led the writing of the manuscript with contributions and editing from all coauthors. HCE, JBZ, SVJ and SEJ provided chemical characterisation data and analyses.

    • Funding This work was funded in part by grants U01CA278695 and U54CA229973 from the National Cancer Institute and the US Food and Drug Administration (MO'NR, EMT, OG, MM and CDD). HCE, JBZ, SVJ and SEJ are funded by grant number U54DA036151 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP).

    • Disclaimer The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of NIH or FDA.

    • Competing interests No, there are no competing interests.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.