Collection: e-Pipes
There are an array of electronic nicotine delivery systems(ENDS) on the market including e-pipes, e-cigars, and e-cigarettes. While the market for e-cigarettes (both cigalikes and the larger MODS) has grown exponentially, the market for e-pipes is still relatively small. E-pipes resemble traditional pipes but like other ENDS devices, they do not contain any tobacco. Instead, e-pipes contain a battery-operated atomizer that produces vapor on inhalation.
Pipes have traditionally been marketed to men as a ritual of relaxation. Most advertisements for pipes feature a man in the comfort of his large armchair smoking a pipe while enjoying his favorite drink. Few pipe advertisements feature women. Those that do, feature a woman in men’s attire to convey a woman of confidence and power.
Advertisements for e-pipes are similar to conventional pipes in advertising imagery and thematic content. Most advertisements feature a man or the pipe itself. E-puffer, a retailer of e-pipes, in their introduction to the products, notes that “Pipes in general evoke an idea of a gentleman, a man in power, or a woman of confidence who knew what she wanted and could take what she wanted, when she wanted to.”1
For the majority of ENDS users, primary reasons for using an electronic device are 1) to try a safer alternative, and 2) to give up tobacco.2 E-puffer makes a health claim in marketing their products. While e-pipe companies are not allowed to advertise health claims or cessation efficacy, some of them do so. E-puffer website suggests “If you want to continue smoking pipes, but you still want to be prioritizing your health, there is another option that you can look into. You don’t have to quit cold turkey, as there is something else that you can try – you can consider E-pipes.”
1. E-puffer. (2017). E-pipes. Retrieved from https://epuffer.com/e-pipe-vape-pipe/.
2. Goniewicz, M. L., Lingas, E. O., & Hajek, P. (2013). Patterns of electronic cigarette use and user beliefs about their safety and benefits: an internet survey. Drug and alcohol review, 32(2), 133-140.
