Following a complaint by the NNA, Voke removes an anti-vape data from all future presentations to possible investors.
Last week I reported the New Nicotine Alliance was furious at a slide used in Voke’s presentation to the money men, as it appeared to be using the deaths from EVALI as a way to prove its product was safer than e-cigarettes.
After contacting parent company Kind Consumer, a spokeswoman told me they would now remove the offending slide and stressed they were NOT ‘anti-ecigarette‘ adding:
The blog [from the NNA] makes reference to a slide from a commercially confidential US specific presentation.
The data referenced in the slide is in the public domain and was reported in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
However, our goal is not to be anti-e-cigarettes or vaping so we have removed this data from the presentation.
Kind Consumer’s aim is, and has always been, to help people cut down and or stop smoking.
Whilst pleased the slide had been removed, a spokesman for the NNA said the company was still putting profit before its stated goal of helping smokers quit, likening them to anti-vaping organization Allen Carr.
The latter has already attacked vaping and has tried to get celebrity Instagram posts showing pod kit Vype removed…I wonder why 😉
The NNA said:
We are encouraged that Kind Consumer have recognized that this messaging is damaging and unhelpful.
The presentation was wholly untruthful both in blaming legal e-cigarettes for deaths due to illegal THC substances laced with Vitamin E Acetate and also for the incorrect claim that vaping increases the risk of stroke.
Voke say that their goal is not to be anti e-cigarettes or vaping yet their founder, Alex Hearn, is on record conflating smoking and vaping – and also the deaths in the US – by saying that:
“Unfortunately, despite the recent health scare many smokers and vapers are still struggling and there appears to be a shortfall in the support and advice available to smokers, resulting in multiple failed attempts to quit”.
Kind Consumer appears to have joined with other conflicted voices – such as Allen Carr – who are valuing their own particular profitable product over and above their stated goal of helping smokers to switch to safer nicotine delivery.
Voke needs to understand, itself, whether it feels its business is designed for making money or helping smokers.
Tough words, however, now and if Voke removes the anti-vape data, the NNA has offered an olive branch:
The NNA would be happy to welcome Voke to our drive to advocate safer nicotine products but not while they insist on demonizing alternative options – which work for very many people – in pursuit of their own personal gain.
Let’s hope the two parties can and will work together.
As I’ve often said, vaping and e-cigarettes aren’t for everyone and devices such as Heat Not Burn products, Snus and none tobacco Snus varieties such as Zyn all have a place in smoking cessation.
More About the Voke Product
It was launched back in November 2019 and approved as a medicine by the Department of Health and Social Care – meaning it can be prescribed by doctors.
Kind Consumer told me they did not have access to the number of prescriptions written so far, and would not be drawn on how many units they’ve sold saying that was “commercially confidential” information – but said feedback from consumers was ‘good’.
The company is planning a detailed survey of its users very soon.
At the moment the Voke device is only available from the Voke website and we shall be getting one in [bought lol] for review very soon – watch this space.
A spokeswoman for the company explained a little more about the device:
Voke is not an e-cigarette and has no electronics, batteries, heat or vapour.
Voke 0.45mg Inhaler: contains nicotine and can be used to reduce, replace or stop smoking.
Voke was launched to the UK market as a truly innovative Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) in early November 2019.
Voke is initially only be available to purchase online. The decision to market Voke in this way was taken to ensure prompt access to the product for consumers in an educated and managed direct relationship.
I asked if there were any plans to make the device available free of charge to NHS Stop Smoking clinics:
We’ve had various contacts with NHS Trusts, official bodies and stop smoking clinics since launch and especially during this pandemic, and we have and continue to offer our support where required.
Is that a yes or a no lol!
Whilst concentrating on the Voke, Kind Consumer told me other devices were in the pipeline.
So – have you or friends and family used the Voke?
Let me know how you/they got on in the comments below!
Find out more about the work of the New Nicotine Alliance and donate to the charity.
