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Netflix’s latest documentary Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul has got some viewers wanting to dispose of their e-cigerettes.
We’ve had David Beckham pouring his heart out and giving us couple goals with his wife Victoria Beckham, we’ve got Robbie Williams’ story coming up next month, and who could forget the failed luxury event Fyre Festival.
Now, Netflix subscribers are getting the inside story of the battery-operated smoking device that was partly intended to help people give up traditional cigarettes, and more specifically Juul.
Although Juul is certainly not the only e-cigarette company, it did once have around 50% of the market share in the US.
The documentary, which is inspired by Jamie Ducharme’s book Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, is described as telling ‘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.’
Directed by Emmy-award winner R.J. Cutler, it explores Juul’s origins and journey so far. It was founded in 2015, and in the documentary, they claim Apple was one of their ultimate inspirations for marketing and they were even sending out free products to influencers and celebrities as part of their campaign.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul is convincing some people to chuck away their vapes (Picture: Netflix)
Since their launch, they’ve been at the receiving end of expensive lawsuits and accused of marketing their products towards children on purpose while failing to warn of their addictiveness.
‘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.
In 2019 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported almost 400 serious lung illnesses and six deaths were linked to vaping.
One young woman in the documentary describes how she was in so much pain she had to crouch, while another recalls respiratory failure.
After watching the episode, viewers have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to announce their vapes are going in the bin.
Almost 400 serious lung illnesses and six deaths were linked to vaping (Picture: Netflix)
‘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.’
Although Juul’s initial aim was to take down big tobacco companies, they ended up being partially bought by Altria – a cigarette manufacturer.
‘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.
The documentary explores the ‘epidemic of teen vaping’ (Picture: Netflix)
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.
In spite of all the ‘mistakes’, some people believe that Juul did invent an electronic cigarette that had the ‘potential’ to help smokers give up traditional 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.
The company’s story has lots of ‘grey area’ (Picture: Netflix)
‘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.’
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in 2016 that e-cigarette businesses had to produce evidence that their products were beneficial for users’ health. If they didn’t deem the product as meeting their criteria then they would have to stop selling them.
Juul was ordered to stop selling by the FDA in 2022 but has appealed the decision. Their products remain available to purchase.
They have also rebranded and their latest product has a parental lock.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul is available to stream on Netflix now.
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Vapers may want to give it a watch.