Puff Bar E-Cig Misleadingly Marketed Toward Young People, Class Action Suit Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges the maker of the Puff Bar has intentionally marketed the disposable e-cigarette toward young people while misrepresenting its addictive nature and the fact that the product could not be sold legally to anyone under 21.

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The 42-page false advertising lawsuit against Evo Brands says the claim that the Puff Bar is “tobacco-free” misleads consumers into believing e-cigarettes and vapes do not have the safety risks associated with tobacco-based nicotine products and generally into believing the Puff Bar, which comes in at least 20 different flavors, is safer than it actually is.

More broadly, Evo Brands and its co-defendants have continued to sell Puff Bars and “allowed and encouraged” resellers to continue to push the products even though it has been illegal to sell them to anyone under 21 since 2019 and illegal to sell e-cigarettes without FDA approval since 2022, the lawsuit charges.

Per the suit, the Puff Bar, which has become the dominant e-cigarette among young people, is labeled as containing “5% tobacco-free nicotine,” “5% Salt Nic,” or simply “5%,” with no additional details. This misleads consumers to believe the Puff Bar’s nicotine content is low or to “underestimate” the product’s nicotine content, strength and addictiveness, the filing says.

The suit additionally alleges Evo Brands has “evaded government regulations in various ways,” first by escaping the FDA’s 2020 ban on flavored vape cartridges, which did not apply to disposable e-cigarettes. Shortly after the ban, Evo Brands emphasized on its website that the Puff Bar is disposable and continued selling the products, the case relays.

Per the suit, the company temporarily paused production after being told by the FDA in July 2020 that it could not sell the vape because it had not received authorization to sell tobacco products. However, the Puff Bar was eventually able to sidestep FDA rules by being classified as “synthetic nicotine,” meaning it was no longer considered a tobacco product, the case explains.

In the aftermath of the new regulations, Puff Bar filled a market void among youths seeking flavored vapes and came to “dominate that market by fulfilling that craving when almost every other flavored brand was no longer available due to the FDA ban,” the lawsuit shares.

In March 2022, Congress closed the aforementioned synthetic nicotine loophole and banned the sale of all e-cigarettes unless a manufacturer receives authorization from the FDA, the suit continues.

“Defendants do not have permission to sell the Products, making the sale of these Products illegal,” the lawsuit alleges.

Though Evo Brands removed the Puff Bar e-cigarettes from its website in late 2022, the vapes are still widely available at brick-and-mortar stores, the filing points out, arguing that the defendants “remain responsible for the impact their Products have on consumers regardless of who was actually selling the Product directly to consumers.”

The Puff Bar lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who bought a Puff Bar in the United States during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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