Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul, a new Netflix documentary, has inspired some viewers to ditch their e-cigarettes.
David Beckham has been pouring his heart out and giving us relationship goals with his wife Victoria Beckham, Robbie Williams’ tale is coming out next month, and who can forget the disastrous luxury event Fyre Festival?
Netflix users are now getting the inside scoop on Juul, the battery-powered smoking gadget that was designed to help people quit regular cigarettes.
Although Juul is not the only e-cigarette manufacturer, it formerly had over 50% of the market share in the United States.
The documentary is based on Jamie Ducharme’s book Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul and tells the “high-drama, rags-to-riches story of the controversial electronic cigarette company Juul, which transformed from a scrappy Silicon Valley tech start-up run by two idealistic Stanford graduate students intent on making the world a better place into a multi-billion-dollar tobacco company that sparked an epidemic of youth addiction and lung disease.”
It is directed by Emmy winner R.J. Cutler and chronicles Juul’s roots and journey thus far. It was created in 2015, and according to the documentary, Apple was one of their biggest marketing inspirations, and they were even giving out free items to influencers and celebrities as part of their campaign.
Since its inception, they’ve faced costly litigation and been accused of intentionally selling their goods to minors while omitting to warn of their addictive nature.
‘I don’t think that anyone could have anticipated how many children would have wanted this product,’ the trailer stated.
In 2018, 30% of the US’s 12th-graders (aged between 17 and 18) said that in the last 12 months, they had vaped nicotine at least once, according to a study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 400 severe lung diseases and six fatalities due to vaping in 2019.
One young lady in the video recalls being in such much pain that she had to squat, while another recalls experiencing respiratory failure.
Following the programme, people took to X, previously Twitter, to declare that their vapes will be discarded.
‘Man this series on Netflix called Big Vape got me throwing away all my vapes right now at this very moment,’ shared one person.
‘Watch that new vape doc on Netflix bet yal ass stop,’ instructed one social media user.
Another person recommended watching it. ‘A lot of y’all need to watch Big Vape on Netflix,’ she stated.
Another person wondered if the universe was trying to send them a message: ‘Just started Vaping and now BIG VAPE is suddenly released on Netflix. Ok Universe.’
Man this series on Netflix called Big Vape got me throwing away all my vapes right now at this very moment
— June22♋ (@ValleyGirlB) October 12, 2023
A lot of y’all need to watch Big Vape on Netflix
— Queen B❤️ (@BeauxBeauti) October 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/IgorotNextDoor/status/1712374725824196804
Watch that new vape doc on Netflix bet yal ass stop
— LLKB LLQK 🕊🕊 (@raeski28) October 12, 2023
Although Juul’s initial goal was to take on large tobacco firms, they were eventually purchased in part by Altria, a cigarette producer.
‘It felt like they were partnering with the devil,’ says an off-camera voice.
‘When you put Juul out into the world it is like releasing a genie from a bottle,’ explained another person.
What Cutler describes as the ‘epidemic of teen vaping’ in Time reached The White House, with Donald Trump banning some flavoured e-cigarettes.
‘You’re nothing but a marketer of poison and your target has been young people’ Congressman Mark DeSaulnier told founder James Monsees in one clip used in the documentary.
Despite all of the’mistakes,’ some individuals believe Juul did design an electronic cigarette with the ‘potential’ to assist smokers quit smoking regular cigarettes.
‘One of the things I get asked a lot is what surprised me the most about Juul’s story,’ said Cutler.
‘And to me, the biggest surprise was that the damn thing worked.
‘In spite of all the mistakes the company made and all the things that led to the fall of Juul, they did invent this electronic cigarette that had the potential to do all the things they set out to do.’
He concluded: ‘I wanted to explore the grey area.’
In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration mandated that e-cigarette companies provide evidence that their products are helpful to consumers’ health. They would have to discontinue selling the goods if they did not believe it met their requirements.
The FDA ordered Juul to stop selling in 2022, but the company has challenged the ruling. Their items are still on the market.
They’ve also renamed, and their most recent model includes a parental lock.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul is available to stream on Netflix now.
