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The buzz was fantastic. Flavor was cool.
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{\an8}I was literally floored.
3
00:00:20,603 --> 00:00:23,106
And it kind of made me feel like a virgin.
4
00:00:26,401 --> 00:00:33,283
My immediate reaction was really like,
"This feels exactly like a cigarette."
5
00:00:35,744 --> 00:00:39,414
But I quickly realized,
"This isn't the same. This is better."
6
00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:44,252
I remember trying it
for a couple of days,
7
00:00:44,836 --> 00:00:49,090
and I realized that I had just...
quit smoking.
8
00:00:50,633 --> 00:00:53,053
It was this huge moment for me.
9
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Ever since one puff,
10
00:00:58,349 --> 00:01:01,644
and never again
smoked another cigarette my entire life.
11
00:01:01,728 --> 00:01:02,728
Never again.
12
00:01:03,730 --> 00:01:07,400
With the JUUL,
they had made something remarkable.
13
00:01:07,484 --> 00:01:09,527
Their one job now is to get it everywhere.
14
00:01:11,905 --> 00:01:13,823
This is a bold product to put out
15
00:01:13,907 --> 00:01:17,327
up against these companies
that have existed since forever.
16
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If you know you have a product
that is going to change an industry,
17
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that's exciting.
18
00:01:38,973 --> 00:01:41,726
The JUUL came onto my radar
in about 2015.
19
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People had been hearing about
what this new JUUL thing might be,
20
00:01:45,355 --> 00:01:48,233
and it started to percolate into my brain
21
00:01:48,316 --> 00:01:52,028
{\an8}that there's something
bigger and interesting happening here.
22
00:01:53,113 --> 00:01:55,240
{\an8}The reason I was interested in them
is because
23
00:01:55,323 --> 00:01:58,868
{\an8}there was this big question
going on at the time:
24
00:01:58,952 --> 00:02:02,789
How do we use technology to improve
every piece of everybody's lives?
25
00:02:02,872 --> 00:02:05,708
{\an8}You have people
like the Uber founders, who say,
26
00:02:05,792 --> 00:02:08,878
{\an8}"I was just trying to get around,
and getting a cab was annoying."
27
00:02:08,962 --> 00:02:12,841
{\an8}Or people didn't know where their
friends were, so they invented Twitter.
28
00:02:12,924 --> 00:02:18,012
JUUL felt like a particularly
high-stakes version of that.
29
00:02:18,096 --> 00:02:21,099
The idea that we can use technology
30
00:02:21,182 --> 00:02:25,937
to improve the lives of a billion people
was really appealing.
31
00:02:27,730 --> 00:02:31,276
The first thing you would notice
walking into their offices
32
00:02:31,359 --> 00:02:32,902
was that everybody was vaping.
33
00:02:32,986 --> 00:02:34,112
Everybody.
34
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,702
James was a total tech guy.
I mostly mean that in a good way.
35
00:02:40,785 --> 00:02:42,537
He was super confident, super smart,
36
00:02:42,620 --> 00:02:45,623
thoughtful about the kind of thing
they were trying to do.
37
00:02:47,208 --> 00:02:49,586
He wanted something
that felt cool and discreet
38
00:02:49,669 --> 00:02:51,838
{\an8}and wasn't trying
to build a better cigarette.
39
00:02:51,921 --> 00:02:55,258
{\an8}He wanted to actually
change the experience of smoking.
40
00:02:55,341 --> 00:02:58,344
And the clear sense they had was,
41
00:02:58,428 --> 00:03:00,388
"We have reinvented smoking."
42
00:03:01,598 --> 00:03:03,600
The headline of my article was,
43
00:03:03,683 --> 00:03:06,186
"This Might Just Be
the First Great E-Cig."
44
00:03:06,269 --> 00:03:09,063
If you take this thing
people enjoy the experience of
45
00:03:09,147 --> 00:03:11,149
but don't want to die from,
46
00:03:11,232 --> 00:03:14,110
and replicate the experience
without the bad parts,
47
00:03:14,194 --> 00:03:16,821
that tracked as the right way
to think about this.
48
00:03:16,905 --> 00:03:18,990
They had made something remarkable.
49
00:03:20,033 --> 00:03:22,827
{\an8}Appearing in a publication like Wired
was huge for them
50
00:03:22,911 --> 00:03:26,414
{\an8}because it lent the company legitimacy
as it launched JUUL.
51
00:03:27,290 --> 00:03:30,627
The mission was,
make something that had enough nicotine.
52
00:03:30,710 --> 00:03:33,755
you wouldn't feel a need
to go back to your combustion cigarette.
53
00:03:33,838 --> 00:03:37,842
We were trying to get smokers
away from smoking with various options.
54
00:03:37,926 --> 00:03:40,220
So JUUL offered flavors
55
00:03:40,303 --> 00:03:42,972
{\an8}for the same reason
Tesla offers multiple colors.
56
00:03:43,056 --> 00:03:45,058
{\an8}Not everyone's going to like the same.
57
00:03:45,141 --> 00:03:47,602
When we started,
we had four flavors.
58
00:03:47,685 --> 00:03:50,730
You cover all bases
with fruit, brûlée, mint,
59
00:03:50,813 --> 00:03:54,192
and then tobacco for all
your Marlboro Red smokers.
60
00:03:54,734 --> 00:03:57,779
Their flavors had incredibly stupid names.
61
00:03:57,862 --> 00:04:00,531
Like "fruit" was spelled F-R-U-U-T.
62
00:04:00,615 --> 00:04:03,243
And "crème brûlée" was B-R-U-U-L-E.
63
00:04:03,326 --> 00:04:06,996
And "mint" was spelled M-I-I-N-T.
64
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:11,000
They were just trying so hard
that it felt dumb, honestly.
65
00:04:11,084 --> 00:04:13,461
But flavors were a key part
of the whole thing.
66
00:04:13,544 --> 00:04:17,548
They wanted to make this not only
satiating from a nicotine perspective,
67
00:04:17,632 --> 00:04:19,801
but also enjoyable and pleasant to smoke,
68
00:04:19,884 --> 00:04:22,387
and smells better
than your average cigarette.
69
00:04:24,097 --> 00:04:27,558
Your typical vaper
doesn't want to smell like a cigarette,
70
00:04:27,642 --> 00:04:30,561
doesn't want to inhale
the carcinogens from a cigarette,
71
00:04:30,645 --> 00:04:32,855
or just wants some different flavors.
72
00:04:33,815 --> 00:04:37,151
I thought the names were stupid,
but the idea was pretty smart.
73
00:04:39,028 --> 00:04:42,657
James and Adam created a product
that seemed like it would work well
74
00:04:42,740 --> 00:04:44,158
and be attractive to users.
75
00:04:44,867 --> 00:04:46,619
But there were still issues.
76
00:04:47,412 --> 00:04:49,247
Pods were a problem.
77
00:04:49,831 --> 00:04:52,667
We did not have a 100% yield,
anywhere near that.
78
00:04:53,251 --> 00:04:55,378
You set out to make a hundred,
79
00:04:55,461 --> 00:04:58,089
{\an8}we maybe ended up
with eight that were good.
80
00:05:00,842 --> 00:05:04,220
A lot of people got a squirt
of nicotine into their mouth
81
00:05:04,304 --> 00:05:06,097
when they would inhale.
82
00:05:06,180 --> 00:05:09,809
One employee said he got
crème brûlée liquid in his mouth so often
83
00:05:09,892 --> 00:05:13,062
that he now can't eat crème brûlée
because it was so disgusting.
84
00:05:13,855 --> 00:05:16,858
To get a battery in there, tubes in there,
85
00:05:16,941 --> 00:05:20,862
to get the pods small enough to work,
was a technical challenge.
86
00:05:20,945 --> 00:05:26,117
{\an8}People would say, "We need a bigger unit."
James refused to budge on the unit size.
87
00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,995
{\an8}He really liked the way that unit looked.
88
00:05:29,662 --> 00:05:32,915
That's what
a visionary does. He's an artist.
89
00:05:32,999 --> 00:05:35,710
{\an8}But, you know, we were rushed.
90
00:05:35,793 --> 00:05:38,046
{\an8}About a month before
the original launch date,
91
00:05:38,129 --> 00:05:40,173
we didn't have a way to fill pods yet.
92
00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:44,093
James told them,
"You have to figure the problems out."
93
00:05:44,177 --> 00:05:45,803
"You have no other choice."
94
00:05:45,887 --> 00:05:50,224
{\an8}Ever heard the adage,
"When in doubt, ship it"?
95
00:05:58,733 --> 00:06:01,778
{\an8}There was pressure
to get this product out there.
96
00:06:02,362 --> 00:06:06,157
PAX, a loose-leaf tobacco
and cannabis vaporizer,
97
00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,993
was the engine
from a financial perspective.
98
00:06:09,077 --> 00:06:13,581
But we started to see
some PAX revenue wane.
99
00:06:14,207 --> 00:06:16,584
{\an8}At the same time,
Japan Tobacco International,
100
00:06:16,667 --> 00:06:18,544
{\an8}who was a major investor,
101
00:06:18,628 --> 00:06:21,422
was growing uncomfortable
with how much the PAX devices
102
00:06:21,506 --> 00:06:23,800
were becoming associated with marijuana.
103
00:06:23,883 --> 00:06:27,553
JTI said, "We can't be part
of a company involved with cannabis,
104
00:06:27,637 --> 00:06:29,097
so we're going to part ways."
105
00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,558
{\an8}So in the end,
we paid them the $10 million back.
106
00:06:32,642 --> 00:06:35,561
{\an8}In some ways, splitting with JTI
was actually a good thing.
107
00:06:35,645 --> 00:06:37,772
Many employees felt uncomfortable
108
00:06:37,855 --> 00:06:40,691
that a tobacco company
was a major investor.
109
00:06:40,775 --> 00:06:42,652
JUUL wanted to be a tech company
110
00:06:42,735 --> 00:06:45,780
and didn't want to be dragged down
by the stink, so to speak,
111
00:06:45,863 --> 00:06:47,281
of the tobacco industry.
112
00:06:48,616 --> 00:06:52,120
{\an8}At that point in time,
getting a reliable, solid product
113
00:06:52,203 --> 00:06:56,999
{\an8}that we could start ramping
manufacturing on was the biggest focus.
114
00:06:58,042 --> 00:07:01,295
{\an8}Investors had been
pouring money into the company for years,
115
00:07:01,379 --> 00:07:03,589
{\an8}and they were antsy
for some of that money back.
116
00:07:03,673 --> 00:07:07,677
{\an8}So James and Adam knew that they needed
JUUL to sell, and to sell really well.
117
00:07:08,511 --> 00:07:14,350
It's hard for a company to have a mission
it believes in and cares deeply about
118
00:07:14,434 --> 00:07:17,603
{\an8}and a board who wants tons of growth.
119
00:07:17,687 --> 00:07:21,899
{\an8}"I gave you millions of dollars,
and you owe me billions of dollars."
120
00:07:21,983 --> 00:07:25,069
"If we make the world a better place
in the meantime, fantastic."
121
00:07:25,153 --> 00:07:27,993
If a company doesn't make
profit, it's not gonna last long.
122
00:07:28,072 --> 00:07:29,449
Public health first,
123
00:07:29,532 --> 00:07:32,577
but you can't have public health
if nobody buys the product.
124
00:07:32,660 --> 00:07:37,790
Silicon Valley
is known for these big, iconic companies,
125
00:07:37,874 --> 00:07:39,959
{\an8}but what we don't remember
126
00:07:40,042 --> 00:07:43,337
{\an8}is the graveyard of start-ups
that is also Silicon Valley.
127
00:07:43,921 --> 00:07:48,050
And so when a company
is going to market for the first time,
128
00:07:48,134 --> 00:07:51,554
it's really important to get it right.
129
00:07:53,139 --> 00:07:56,142
You only have one chance
to make a first impression.
130
00:07:56,225 --> 00:07:58,936
So I, uh... I love smoking.
131
00:08:00,146 --> 00:08:02,815
And uh, I know I'm not alone in this.
It's been...
132
00:08:02,899 --> 00:08:06,694
James is extremely confident
and believed in himself very deeply,
133
00:08:06,777 --> 00:08:09,947
but it started to become apparent
that he was not the kind of founder
134
00:08:10,031 --> 00:08:14,118
who could become his own brand
and sell the company to the world.
135
00:08:14,202 --> 00:08:18,289
We're not an activist company.
We're not prescriptive in our products.
136
00:08:18,372 --> 00:08:22,793
If you don't like what we're making
better than cigarettes,
137
00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:24,378
then have a cigarette.
138
00:08:24,462 --> 00:08:27,757
That's fine. We're not against that...
139
00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,927
It was incredibly jarring
to hear somebody say something like,
140
00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:33,679
"If you don't like our product,
go smoke a cigarette,"
141
00:08:33,763 --> 00:08:36,474
because the whole idea of the company
142
00:08:36,557 --> 00:08:39,977
had been built on the fact
that cigarettes are bad for you.
143
00:08:40,061 --> 00:08:44,565
He might say, in like,
the context of talking to a journalist,
144
00:08:44,649 --> 00:08:46,651
{\an8}exactly what he believes,
145
00:08:46,734 --> 00:08:52,198
{\an8}as opposed to whatever is the most
beneficial thing to say for the company.
146
00:08:52,281 --> 00:08:54,992
I don't think
that he had a very good handle
147
00:08:55,076 --> 00:08:58,955
{\an8}on what it was that we were going to do
by way of marketing.
148
00:08:59,914 --> 00:09:04,710
It's really important that you get
the strategy and the execution right.
149
00:09:04,794 --> 00:09:06,420
The stakes are incredibly high.
150
00:09:07,213 --> 00:09:09,173
As JUUL's
launch date got closer,
151
00:09:09,257 --> 00:09:12,093
James needed someone
he could rely on to sell it.
152
00:09:12,176 --> 00:09:14,762
He had someone at the company
who'd already proven himself
153
00:09:14,845 --> 00:09:16,597
to be a talented marketer.
154
00:09:21,894 --> 00:09:25,439
Richard Mumby first joined the company
as a marketing consultant,
155
00:09:25,523 --> 00:09:29,694
{\an8}and he was the polar opposite
of your typical Silicon Valley bro.
156
00:09:29,777 --> 00:09:31,904
He had a degree from Dartmouth,
157
00:09:31,988 --> 00:09:34,574
he'd worked at fashion start-ups
in New York City,
158
00:09:34,657 --> 00:09:37,702
and he was basically
a social media influencer.
159
00:09:38,286 --> 00:09:43,457
{\an8}Every time I met Richard Mumby, it felt
like he knew exactly what he was doing.
160
00:09:43,541 --> 00:09:47,670
Like he was prepared for every
interaction that he had during the day.
161
00:09:47,753 --> 00:09:51,507
He kind of exudes confidence,
and it's intoxicating.
162
00:09:52,550 --> 00:09:56,137
James entirely trusted him
to run everything to do with marketing,
163
00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:57,930
so that's what Mumby did.
164
00:10:02,101 --> 00:10:06,856
{\an8}Richard Mumby is a dumbass fuck
who I never want to meet again,
165
00:10:06,939 --> 00:10:10,109
{\an8}and I believe he had a big hand
in ruining JUUL.
166
00:10:12,069 --> 00:10:15,781
I had worked with Richard
on different marketing initiatives,
167
00:10:15,865 --> 00:10:19,243
so he reached out and told me
about an exciting opportunity he had
168
00:10:19,327 --> 00:10:23,080
{\an8}in San Francisco, and asked me
if it'd be something I'd be interested in.
169
00:10:23,664 --> 00:10:29,045
I have a career specializing in
luxury advertising, lifestyle advertising.
170
00:10:31,005 --> 00:10:33,674
I'm not trying to flex,
this is not about my vanity,
171
00:10:33,758 --> 00:10:36,344
but if you're a start-up
and you want to be relevant,
172
00:10:36,427 --> 00:10:40,640
you need a douse of sexy,
I'd be the guy they would call.
173
00:10:40,723 --> 00:10:44,101
♪ When I'm sitting here
Knowing this ain't real ♪
174
00:10:44,185 --> 00:10:47,438
Baillie had a colorful
reputation in the fashion world.
175
00:10:47,521 --> 00:10:49,273
He was sort of seen as a party boy,
176
00:10:49,357 --> 00:10:53,861
always surrounded with models
and DJs and influencers.
177
00:10:53,944 --> 00:10:55,946
But he was definitely seen as somebody
178
00:10:56,030 --> 00:10:58,407
who could make a product
look cool and sell it.
179
00:10:58,491 --> 00:11:02,078
When you look under the hood
of advertising, what is it really about?
180
00:11:02,161 --> 00:11:05,748
Desirability is imperative
if you're launching something, right?
181
00:11:09,585 --> 00:11:13,923
And the whole vaping thing
was really goofy.
182
00:11:15,091 --> 00:11:16,676
Gnarly fucking plumes.
183
00:11:18,010 --> 00:11:21,597
If you told somebody about
e-cigarettes in the first half of 2010s,
184
00:11:21,681 --> 00:11:23,962
{\an8}they wouldn't have any idea
of what you were talking about
185
00:11:24,016 --> 00:11:25,976
{\an8}or would think that sounds lame and nerdy.
186
00:11:26,977 --> 00:11:30,523
Everybody had either these things
that looked like cigarettes
187
00:11:30,606 --> 00:11:33,442
but were worse, like a fake cigarette,
188
00:11:33,526 --> 00:11:36,570
or these huge monster rigs
189
00:11:36,654 --> 00:11:39,990
that would make
these crazy, giant clouds of smoke.
190
00:11:41,242 --> 00:11:43,619
James and Adam
wanted JUUL to be seen
191
00:11:43,703 --> 00:11:48,416
as a luxurious, sophisticated product that
people would not be embarrassed to use,
192
00:11:48,499 --> 00:11:52,294
unlike some vaping products
that had been seen as dorky and uncool.
193
00:11:53,003 --> 00:11:56,882
I mean, there's a barren wasteland
of awful, tacky stuff.
194
00:11:56,966 --> 00:12:00,511
Even the mainstream brands
that were putting out devices
195
00:12:00,594 --> 00:12:04,265
were so corny. It was just, like, "Wow."
196
00:12:05,099 --> 00:12:09,103
It felt as though
we were playing in amateur leagues.
197
00:12:11,230 --> 00:12:15,651
It really struck me that the devices
looked like Stanley Kubrick's monolith
198
00:12:15,735 --> 00:12:18,320
in Space Odyssey, 2001.
199
00:12:18,404 --> 00:12:22,032
The godlike presence
of that device in those films,
200
00:12:22,116 --> 00:12:25,619
and the mystery behind it,
was a huge inspiration for me.
201
00:12:26,203 --> 00:12:28,289
I also had Apple on the mind,
202
00:12:28,372 --> 00:12:31,250
the way that Apple markets their products.
203
00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:35,004
They're beautiful,
sumptuous objects to be worshiped.
204
00:12:35,087 --> 00:12:38,048
But how do you dial up that appeal?
What does that look like?
205
00:12:38,132 --> 00:12:42,845
And it comes from a lot of strategy,
some research, and some instincts.
206
00:12:42,928 --> 00:12:45,973
It's like,
how do you get it on people's radar?
207
00:12:49,351 --> 00:12:55,316
Launch campaigns
are arguably the most critical factor
208
00:12:55,399 --> 00:12:57,985
in an early-stage start-up's existence.
209
00:12:58,068 --> 00:13:00,905
It's through that launch campaign
210
00:13:00,988 --> 00:13:03,949
that you're actually accelerating,
or otherwise,
211
00:13:04,033 --> 00:13:06,160
the potential growth of the company.
212
00:13:06,243 --> 00:13:08,871
And if you get a launch campaign wrong,
213
00:13:08,954 --> 00:13:11,373
then you don't really get a second chance.
214
00:13:12,583 --> 00:13:15,669
San Fran was
this e-comm start-up hub.
215
00:13:15,753 --> 00:13:19,673
Everyone was setting up camp,
but from a style perspective...
216
00:13:19,757 --> 00:13:21,842
I don't know if I should say this, but...
217
00:13:21,926 --> 00:13:26,388
We've got a bunch of Zuckerberg-type dudes
coming from Stanford,
218
00:13:26,472 --> 00:13:31,435
and they were out of touch
with being relevant and cool.
219
00:13:31,519 --> 00:13:35,815
And so if we're using people in these ads,
220
00:13:35,898 --> 00:13:38,108
what do they look like?
Who are they? Where are they?
221
00:13:39,735 --> 00:13:41,904
When I started
working with Richard, I said,
222
00:13:41,987 --> 00:13:45,199
"Look, Vice Magazine, Williamsburg,
223
00:13:45,282 --> 00:13:47,535
this is where it's all going down."
224
00:13:47,618 --> 00:13:48,911
He immediately agreed.
225
00:13:50,204 --> 00:13:54,083
During this period, a huge inspiration
to me was Terry Richardson.
226
00:13:54,166 --> 00:13:57,795
He had his finger on the pulse
of what was happening culturally.
227
00:13:57,878 --> 00:14:02,508
It's the President, the next day
it's Beyoncé, and then it's Rihanna.
228
00:14:03,175 --> 00:14:05,886
Richard gravitated to that approach.
229
00:14:06,846 --> 00:14:11,475
The overarching theme
that we developed was "Come As You Are,"
230
00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:13,310
the Nirvana song, right?
231
00:14:13,394 --> 00:14:15,938
The idea is come as you are.
You're not gonna be styled,
232
00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:19,358
you don't need to do your hair
and makeup. Like, be yourself.
233
00:14:19,441 --> 00:14:22,987
We had a bunch of this stuff
where the JUUL was worked into
234
00:14:23,070 --> 00:14:25,114
what you would call a lifestyle scenario.
235
00:14:25,197 --> 00:14:28,367
A lot of folks in advertising
think lifestyle is a cheap trick.
236
00:14:28,450 --> 00:14:32,204
Get someone who's good-looking, handsome,
give him anything, it's gonna work.
237
00:14:33,581 --> 00:14:35,541
But I think it definitely works.
238
00:14:38,210 --> 00:14:41,297
Richard presented the work
to the founders,
239
00:14:42,006 --> 00:14:46,385
and I don't recall specific feedback.
240
00:14:46,468 --> 00:14:50,431
There were just certain devices
that they gravitated towards.
241
00:14:50,514 --> 00:14:51,765
They liked the color.
242
00:14:51,849 --> 00:14:56,228
They liked that that design motif
came back to the device.
243
00:14:56,312 --> 00:14:58,564
Everybody signed off on the creative,
244
00:14:58,647 --> 00:15:01,775
and we were ready to start
into production on these shoots.
245
00:15:02,818 --> 00:15:06,280
You've got Adam and James,
who had this problem,
246
00:15:06,363 --> 00:15:09,617
they had this technology,
they were going to solve the problem.
247
00:15:10,284 --> 00:15:11,911
But then in walks Richard,
248
00:15:11,994 --> 00:15:15,789
and Richard clearly
not interested in the mission,
249
00:15:15,873 --> 00:15:19,460
but sees a massive opportunity
to drive growth.
250
00:15:21,253 --> 00:15:24,924
I think everyone was mindful
of that mission statement.
251
00:15:25,007 --> 00:15:28,302
I think once we went down
the approved path,
252
00:15:28,385 --> 00:15:31,221
it just became something
completely different.
253
00:15:32,473 --> 00:15:36,060
There was no talk
of mission statements on the photo shoot.
254
00:15:36,143 --> 00:15:40,189
And sometimes when you're bringing
a brand's mission statements to life,
255
00:15:40,272 --> 00:15:42,149
it doesn't work consumer-facing.
256
00:15:42,816 --> 00:15:48,238
So the direction we decided to take was
more focused on the cool factor, right?
257
00:15:49,657 --> 00:15:54,495
Their initial idea
was conceived with a particular use-case,
258
00:15:54,578 --> 00:15:56,830
somebody who's already smoking,
259
00:15:56,914 --> 00:16:01,543
and Richard took it into
a completely different demographic
260
00:16:01,627 --> 00:16:05,297
based on a lifestyle proposition
of urban cool.
261
00:16:08,759 --> 00:16:10,344
I was 17 at the time,
262
00:16:10,427 --> 00:16:14,723
when my friend messaged me
about just a random party.
263
00:16:16,517 --> 00:16:18,394
{\an8}So... let me hit this real quick.
264
00:16:20,062 --> 00:16:21,062
{\an8}Mmm.
265
00:16:22,356 --> 00:16:25,651
Also, anything I say about fake IDs
is like, not an issue, right?
266
00:16:25,734 --> 00:16:27,861
- No.
- Okay, just want to make sure.
267
00:16:28,612 --> 00:16:32,032
It's an open bar.
Who doesn't love free alcohol? Obviously.
268
00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:34,576
So we were like,
"Let's just go check it out."
269
00:16:34,660 --> 00:16:37,705
But we had no idea
what we were walking into.
270
00:16:38,288 --> 00:16:41,250
You were greeted by someone
with a Polaroid camera.
271
00:16:42,126 --> 00:16:45,587
The pink and the blue really set the vibe.
272
00:16:46,422 --> 00:16:48,340
They definitely had the right ambiance.
273
00:16:50,676 --> 00:16:53,679
♪ You're getting high on your own supply ♪
274
00:16:56,974 --> 00:16:58,475
They had great DJs playing,
275
00:16:58,559 --> 00:17:04,273
and on all the projections,
they had "JUUL" on the walls.
276
00:17:04,356 --> 00:17:06,025
And they all had hashtags on them,
277
00:17:06,108 --> 00:17:09,486
which gave us the cues
for what to put into our posts.
278
00:17:09,570 --> 00:17:15,492
So I remember I used the #JUUL,
# VAPORIZED, #JUULvapor.
279
00:17:15,576 --> 00:17:18,078
We were told to post it
anywhere we wanted.
280
00:17:18,162 --> 00:17:20,414
So, Twitter, Instagram.
281
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,542
You know, we were dancing, having fun.
282
00:17:24,251 --> 00:17:27,296
There was a lot of coughing
going around the room that night.
283
00:17:28,297 --> 00:17:29,777
My first hit of the JUUL...
284
00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:35,512
...was different from others
because I didn't cough the first time.
285
00:17:35,596 --> 00:17:37,723
So that's what kind of turned me on to it.
286
00:17:39,183 --> 00:17:42,144
Me and my best friend
used to smoke Newports.
287
00:17:42,227 --> 00:17:45,064
I realized it was stronger.
It had a different effect.
288
00:17:45,147 --> 00:17:47,524
And I do remember thinking, like, "Oh."
289
00:17:47,608 --> 00:17:50,444
"Is this what a cigarette
is supposed to be like?"
290
00:17:50,527 --> 00:17:53,238
Or if maybe I'd been
smoking cigarettes wrong or something.
291
00:17:54,031 --> 00:17:56,700
One thing I liked about it
was the sleekness
292
00:17:56,784 --> 00:17:59,369
did remind me
of the sleekness of an iPhone.
293
00:18:02,247 --> 00:18:04,917
The first flavor I tried
was the fruit flavor,
294
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,586
but flavor of choice was mint.
295
00:18:08,921 --> 00:18:11,757
I remember a lot of my friends
saying that they didn't like it,
296
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,383
but I took two devices home.
297
00:18:17,304 --> 00:18:20,641
They wanted a small takeover
at Times Square.
298
00:18:20,724 --> 00:18:22,851
I walked down there with a couple cameras.
299
00:18:25,938 --> 00:18:27,940
I was just like, "Wow."
300
00:18:34,404 --> 00:18:36,907
The way the whole thing was orchestrated,
301
00:18:36,990 --> 00:18:40,994
the way the animation sequences
went around the corner, was incredible.
302
00:18:41,078 --> 00:18:43,413
What a platform
to see your work displayed in.
303
00:18:43,497 --> 00:18:44,790
It was really exciting.
304
00:18:48,001 --> 00:18:51,296
{\an8}After the launch party,
the strategy was to get JUUL
305
00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:53,590
{\an8}in front of as many people as possible.
306
00:18:53,674 --> 00:18:55,551
{\an8}JUUL needed to be successful
307
00:18:55,634 --> 00:18:59,012
{\an8}to satisfy the board and investors
and people at the company.
308
00:18:59,096 --> 00:19:01,849
But the challenge was
that they didn't yet have the budget
309
00:19:01,932 --> 00:19:05,394
to put together a huge,
elaborate launch campaign.
310
00:19:05,477 --> 00:19:09,064
Part of their strategy
was to get boots on the ground
311
00:19:09,148 --> 00:19:13,443
and have pop-ups in key cities
to get the device out there in the world.
312
00:19:14,194 --> 00:19:16,572
Our mind state
was getting them in places
313
00:19:16,655 --> 00:19:19,867
where we knew people of influence
were around or were going to.
314
00:19:19,950 --> 00:19:22,494
We had little sampling tips,
315
00:19:22,578 --> 00:19:24,496
{\an8}and we would treat it
like a hookah lounge.
316
00:19:24,580 --> 00:19:28,458
Sampling became
a very intrical part
317
00:19:28,542 --> 00:19:31,503
of all the campaigns that we did.
318
00:19:31,587 --> 00:19:34,965
{\an8}And I'd see
these big, burly guys doubling over.
319
00:19:37,801 --> 00:19:39,178
{\an8}Wiping the tears.
320
00:19:39,261 --> 00:19:41,471
"Wow. Can I have another?"
321
00:19:42,055 --> 00:19:45,434
The Vaporized campaign
was exquisite
322
00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:50,314
at getting the coolest kids
to promote the JUUL product
323
00:19:50,397 --> 00:19:51,607
on their own social media.
324
00:19:51,690 --> 00:19:54,193
You started to see booths
pop up at parties
325
00:19:54,276 --> 00:19:57,112
where you'd take a moment away,
hop into the booth,
326
00:19:57,196 --> 00:19:59,573
create content to share on social media.
327
00:19:59,656 --> 00:20:03,911
JUUL was trying to associate itself
with young, internet-savvy, cool kids
328
00:20:03,994 --> 00:20:05,913
to ride that boom in influencer marketing.
329
00:20:10,626 --> 00:20:15,797
JUUL did a good job of tapping into
people known as "It girls" and "It boys."
330
00:20:15,881 --> 00:20:19,551
{\an8}People like Lucas Abbat and Tavi Gevinson.
331
00:20:19,635 --> 00:20:21,887
{\an8}They were associating themselves
with tastemakers.
332
00:20:21,970 --> 00:20:25,224
But at the same time, people at JUUL
were sending out free products
333
00:20:25,307 --> 00:20:27,768
to a long list
of influencers and celebrities
334
00:20:27,851 --> 00:20:30,520
like Leonardo DiCaprio and Bella Hadid.
335
00:20:31,605 --> 00:20:33,565
Every start-up was using this tactic.
336
00:20:33,649 --> 00:20:37,236
Selling a way of life is the most
effective way of selling a product.
337
00:20:37,319 --> 00:20:40,572
If you run a company and want it to grow,
that was the way to grow it.
338
00:20:41,073 --> 00:20:42,233
JUUL throws a party,
339
00:20:42,282 --> 00:20:44,701
invites people
with a lot of followers on Instagram,
340
00:20:44,785 --> 00:20:48,288
gives them JUULs, and gives them
cool things to take pictures in front of.
341
00:20:48,372 --> 00:20:51,583
It just looks like
all the cool people you know are JUULing.
342
00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:02,344
The launch campaign
was targeted towards millennials,
343
00:21:02,427 --> 00:21:05,305
which struck some people
as a strange decision
344
00:21:05,389 --> 00:21:08,684
because smoking wasn't
terribly popular with millennials.
345
00:21:10,769 --> 00:21:15,774
{\an8}I never saw a single proposal by Marketing
ever be pushed back on.
346
00:21:17,025 --> 00:21:19,820
There was never any,
"No, let's not do this."
347
00:21:21,029 --> 00:21:22,864
{\an8}I'm not a born marketer either.
348
00:21:22,948 --> 00:21:26,243
{\an8}So if they said, "This is
what's necessary to get this going,
349
00:21:26,326 --> 00:21:29,121
and here's what we'll promise
in terms of results,"
350
00:21:29,871 --> 00:21:31,498
um, the board went with it.
351
00:21:31,581 --> 00:21:34,293
{\an8}The investors are investing
in the launch campaign,
352
00:21:34,376 --> 00:21:37,379
and they're expecting to see signals
353
00:21:37,462 --> 00:21:41,383
that this business
has huge potential growth ahead of it.
354
00:21:42,259 --> 00:21:46,096
Among the board,
one person in particular was concerned,
355
00:21:46,179 --> 00:21:48,473
an investor named Alexander Asseily.
356
00:21:48,557 --> 00:21:52,394
Alex Asseily
was the only voice of dissent
357
00:21:52,477 --> 00:21:55,063
as the campaign went to market.
358
00:21:55,147 --> 00:21:57,482
He felt that it was way off strategy,
359
00:21:57,566 --> 00:22:02,029
and he understood that,
if this strategy was to succeed,
360
00:22:02,112 --> 00:22:05,240
the organization might never
be able to walk back from it.
361
00:22:05,866 --> 00:22:08,535
We did the Vaporized campaign.
362
00:22:08,618 --> 00:22:10,412
You know, models dancing,
363
00:22:10,495 --> 00:22:11,872
{\an8}holding a JUUL in their hand.
364
00:22:11,955 --> 00:22:15,083
It seemed like this was going to be
the coolest thing in the world.
365
00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:17,169
Probably a bad idea.
366
00:22:18,587 --> 00:22:22,632
I feel it was effective in terms
of what we were trying to achieve.
367
00:22:22,716 --> 00:22:28,180
But the initial response to the campaign...
we immediately got negative feedback.
368
00:22:28,263 --> 00:22:33,310
E-cigarette makers are allowed
to advertise to anyone on TV,
369
00:22:33,393 --> 00:22:35,937
which has led to ads like this one
for JUUL Vapor.
370
00:22:39,649 --> 00:22:42,319
Mm-mm.
371
00:22:42,402 --> 00:22:46,782
Yeah! Something about inhaling
poison steam makes me want to dance
372
00:22:46,865 --> 00:22:48,950
in a way that doesn't require
much lung strength.
373
00:22:49,951 --> 00:22:52,454
Ultimately, the problem
with JUUL's early marketing
374
00:22:52,537 --> 00:22:56,124
{\an8}was that while they had sat down
and read thousands of pages
375
00:22:56,208 --> 00:22:59,419
{\an8}of tobacco industry documents
about nicotine salts,
376
00:22:59,503 --> 00:23:03,840
they apparently hadn't read the thousands
of pages about tobacco industry marketing.
377
00:23:03,924 --> 00:23:08,970
{\an8}If you were starting a start-up
putting out a nicotine product,
378
00:23:09,054 --> 00:23:10,597
{\an8}why reinvent the wheel?
379
00:23:11,848 --> 00:23:13,934
JUUL, in its advertising,
380
00:23:14,017 --> 00:23:18,230
faithfully followed the playbook
of Big Tobacco companies
381
00:23:18,313 --> 00:23:20,148
and their cigarette brands.
382
00:23:20,232 --> 00:23:21,942
The Vaporized campaign.
383
00:23:22,025 --> 00:23:24,528
It has direct roots
384
00:23:24,611 --> 00:23:27,572
from the way the tobacco industry
marketed to youth.
385
00:23:28,490 --> 00:23:32,160
Take a bunch of 20-somethings,
and you have them dance around.
386
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,540
Many of the thematics
look like Newport ads.
387
00:23:37,124 --> 00:23:41,628
{\an8}Social groups of teenagers,
ones and twos, doing fun things,
388
00:23:41,711 --> 00:23:43,547
playing, dancing around.
389
00:23:43,630 --> 00:23:47,342
{\an8}The themes
that are put forward with Vaporized,
390
00:23:47,426 --> 00:23:49,845
{\an8}of individuality, adventure, and glamour,
391
00:23:49,928 --> 00:23:54,766
{\an8}those were older themes
that had been developed by Big Tobacco.
392
00:23:54,850 --> 00:23:56,309
Look at the hair.
393
00:23:57,102 --> 00:23:58,687
Look at the faces.
394
00:23:59,604 --> 00:24:00,856
Look at the poses.
395
00:24:01,523 --> 00:24:03,233
Employing glamour,
396
00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:06,361
sophistication and youth,
397
00:24:07,237 --> 00:24:08,905
and cool.
398
00:24:08,989 --> 00:24:12,451
They gave away tens
and tens of thousands of free JUULs.
399
00:24:13,118 --> 00:24:15,912
That's an old trick
of drug dealers everywhere, right?
400
00:24:15,996 --> 00:24:17,873
The first one is always free.
401
00:24:17,956 --> 00:24:21,501
They took the very worst
elements of tobacco marketing.
402
00:24:22,002 --> 00:24:25,297
Cigarette makers could no longer
advertise on television. JUUL could.
403
00:24:25,380 --> 00:24:29,217
Cigarette makers could no longer
have a billboard on Times Square.
404
00:24:29,301 --> 00:24:30,760
JUUL could.
405
00:24:31,928 --> 00:24:34,389
{\an8}Shortly after
the Vaporized campaign came out,
406
00:24:34,473 --> 00:24:37,476
{\an8}AdAge ran a story about the campaign.
407
00:24:37,559 --> 00:24:40,562
Within that article,
somebody was quoted as saying
408
00:24:40,645 --> 00:24:44,316
that the advertisements looked
very similar to old Big Tobacco ads.
409
00:24:46,443 --> 00:24:48,653
{\an8}This was a bombshell within the company.
410
00:24:49,821 --> 00:24:51,823
Mumby's team leapt into hyperdrive
411
00:24:51,907 --> 00:24:54,784
and started redoing aspects
of the Vaporized campaign,
412
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:56,828
even though it had just come out.
413
00:24:58,997 --> 00:25:03,460
{\an8}We all knew from day one,
children smoking JUULs was a disaster.
414
00:25:03,543 --> 00:25:05,754
{\an8}There was no doubt about that.
415
00:25:05,837 --> 00:25:09,049
James actually came out of his office
one day and said,
416
00:25:09,132 --> 00:25:12,844
"Guys, this is a smoking product.
We gotta start thinking that way."
417
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,389
And I remember
that was quite a shift for him,
418
00:25:16,473 --> 00:25:20,268
{\an8}because there was always
this Silicon Valley mentality of,
419
00:25:20,852 --> 00:25:23,438
"Get as big as you can
as fast as you can."
420
00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:25,190
"Figure out the rest later."
421
00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:29,986
They got caught, in a sense,
and you end up with an apology tour,
422
00:25:30,070 --> 00:25:31,404
or a retreat.
423
00:25:31,488 --> 00:25:32,822
When we launched JUUL,
424
00:25:32,906 --> 00:25:35,784
we had a campaign that was uh,
425
00:25:35,867 --> 00:25:39,746
arguably too kind of
lifestyle-oriented, too flashy.
426
00:25:39,829 --> 00:25:41,331
It lasted less than six months.
427
00:25:41,414 --> 00:25:44,334
Adam Bowen said,
"It was too lifestyle-oriented."
428
00:25:44,417 --> 00:25:48,505
That's a "tepid" way of saying
it was, in fact, very youth-oriented.
429
00:25:49,714 --> 00:25:51,883
There's a saying
in Silicon Valley,
430
00:25:51,967 --> 00:25:53,677
"Move fast and break things."
431
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:55,345
This Vaporized campaign
432
00:25:55,428 --> 00:26:00,475
was conceived, pre-produced,
and executed in less than a month.
433
00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:02,894
That's really, really quick.
434
00:26:03,478 --> 00:26:07,524
It was wildly irresponsible
for the creative leadership
435
00:26:07,607 --> 00:26:11,611
to have no knowledge
of what was responsible marketing
436
00:26:11,695 --> 00:26:13,113
of a tobacco product.
437
00:26:13,196 --> 00:26:16,866
I want to be clear,
Steven Baillie was hired help
438
00:26:16,950 --> 00:26:20,036
to execute a playbook
that he was known for.
439
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,915
Young, smiley, happy,
sexually provocative people
440
00:26:23,999 --> 00:26:25,208
having a great time.
441
00:26:25,834 --> 00:26:29,254
It's really not Steven's responsibility
442
00:26:29,337 --> 00:26:33,049
to set the strategic direction
for the brand.
443
00:26:33,133 --> 00:26:38,221
Baillie and Mumby took the marching orders
from the senior leadership of JUUL,
444
00:26:38,305 --> 00:26:42,225
and they created the goal
of getting the cool kids.
445
00:26:44,894 --> 00:26:47,981
So, uh, one of the things
I wanted to talk about
446
00:26:48,064 --> 00:26:50,275
was that Stackler professor from Stanford.
447
00:26:50,358 --> 00:26:52,527
- It's Jackler.
- Jackler, Stackler.
448
00:26:52,611 --> 00:26:55,071
It was kind of shocking
that he was a professor.
449
00:26:55,155 --> 00:26:57,907
I'm not here to take shots at him,
450
00:26:57,991 --> 00:27:01,620
but this idea
that we went through the hallowed hall
451
00:27:01,703 --> 00:27:03,913
of bad tobacco advertising,
452
00:27:03,997 --> 00:27:05,957
and extracted elements,
453
00:27:06,041 --> 00:27:10,920
as if we even had the time for that,
you know, it was comical in a sense,
454
00:27:11,004 --> 00:27:14,924
because of the time it actually took
to do this whole thing.
455
00:27:15,759 --> 00:27:18,928
It wouldn't have been physically possible
to do what he was suggesting.
456
00:27:19,012 --> 00:27:24,184
If I could take credit for creating
this thing that was a cultural phenomenon,
457
00:27:24,267 --> 00:27:26,102
maybe, I mean...
458
00:27:26,186 --> 00:27:30,774
I'd be the most wanted
creative professional on the planet,
459
00:27:30,857 --> 00:27:33,693
but it didn't work out like that.
It was, you know...
460
00:27:33,777 --> 00:27:35,737
My name was getting
thrown around the press,
461
00:27:35,820 --> 00:27:38,573
and uh, it got really scary, you know?
462
00:27:40,575 --> 00:27:44,120
I'm coming out of it. I just feel weird
being like, "Wah, wah, wah."
463
00:27:44,204 --> 00:27:47,874
I'm a grown man.
If I have to drive Uber, fuck it.
464
00:27:47,957 --> 00:27:49,292
What am I going to do?
465
00:27:55,507 --> 00:27:58,176
I remember what
the first day was like.
466
00:27:58,259 --> 00:28:01,721
{\an8}They had just sent the samples
to my house. I was super excited.
467
00:28:01,805 --> 00:28:04,182
{\an8}I had a list of stores
I was going to visit.
468
00:28:04,265 --> 00:28:07,310
I was like, "I'm going to
hit the ground running. It'll be awesome."
469
00:28:07,394 --> 00:28:10,313
I get to the first vape shop.
They're like, "We don't want it."
470
00:28:10,897 --> 00:28:13,942
I'm like, "Let me see if I can
change it up and go to a smoke shop."
471
00:28:14,025 --> 00:28:15,944
"No, we don't want it."
472
00:28:16,027 --> 00:28:17,529
And it was like that.
473
00:28:18,029 --> 00:28:20,573
No one wanted it.
No one wanted it at all.
474
00:28:21,157 --> 00:28:23,702
JUUL was starting to spread
on social media.
475
00:28:23,785 --> 00:28:26,329
People were posting about it
after the sampling tour,
476
00:28:26,413 --> 00:28:29,040
but in real life,
things were not looking as good.
477
00:28:29,124 --> 00:28:33,044
Salespeople were struggling to convince
retailers to stock JUUL products.
478
00:28:33,628 --> 00:28:35,748
I don't think they got
what we were selling.
479
00:28:35,797 --> 00:28:38,800
They just saw pretty people
holding what looked like a USB stick.
480
00:28:38,883 --> 00:28:42,095
Are we selling the models,
or are we selling the JUUL?
481
00:28:42,762 --> 00:28:49,519
{\an8}This guy, he calls us and he's like,
"Hey, is this uh, JUUL?" I'm like, "Yeah."
482
00:28:49,602 --> 00:28:52,313
He's like, "Are you the person
who sent me those JUUL pods?"
483
00:28:52,397 --> 00:28:53,857
"Yep, what'd you think?"
484
00:28:53,940 --> 00:28:56,568
"First off, I got a bunch
of juice in my mouth."
485
00:28:56,651 --> 00:28:58,153
"I'm not thrilled about that."
486
00:28:59,070 --> 00:29:00,905
Even after JUUL launched,
487
00:29:00,989 --> 00:29:03,992
people were still reporting
this juice-in-mouth problem.
488
00:29:04,659 --> 00:29:07,871
One employee tested
this huge batch of JUUL pods,
489
00:29:07,954 --> 00:29:09,789
and almost one in five leaked.
490
00:29:09,873 --> 00:29:13,126
{\an8}I think the expectations
on how successful JUUL was gonna be
491
00:29:13,209 --> 00:29:14,878
{\an8}were rapidly shrinking.
492
00:29:15,462 --> 00:29:19,048
{\an8}In fact, at one point,
we stopped production for two weeks
493
00:29:19,132 --> 00:29:20,884
{\an8}because we had ordered too much.
494
00:29:21,468 --> 00:29:23,970
{\an8}They expected JUUL to be big,
495
00:29:24,053 --> 00:29:25,972
{\an8}but then when the JUUL came out,
496
00:29:26,055 --> 00:29:29,601
James was in a panic because he thought
the product was going to fail terribly.
497
00:29:35,523 --> 00:29:38,693
To get the JUUL device
to a point where it could be sold widely
498
00:29:38,777 --> 00:29:40,653
was a huge undertaking.
499
00:29:40,737 --> 00:29:42,655
{\an8}We were doing things manually,
500
00:29:42,739 --> 00:29:47,994
{\an8}and they were extremely expensive
to hand-assemble and hand-fill.
501
00:29:48,077 --> 00:29:50,622
We were selling potentially at a loss.
502
00:29:51,748 --> 00:29:53,750
I was trying to get
some automated equipment,
503
00:29:53,833 --> 00:29:57,420
and me and James got into an argument
that spilled into the parking lot
504
00:29:57,504 --> 00:29:58,713
over $500.
505
00:30:03,927 --> 00:30:08,556
James wanted to call the shots,
even if it wasn't his area of expertise.
506
00:30:10,099 --> 00:30:11,976
He wanted to be the one in charge.
507
00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:16,648
Big changes are coming
to the e-cigarette market.
508
00:30:16,731 --> 00:30:19,400
The FDA released new rules today.
The agency...
509
00:30:19,484 --> 00:30:21,194
On top of
all of these problems,
510
00:30:21,277 --> 00:30:24,739
the FDA was finalizing its rules
for regulating e-cigarettes.
511
00:30:25,698 --> 00:30:28,076
The Food
and Drug Administration regulates
512
00:30:28,159 --> 00:30:32,038
most of the foods, all the drugs,
and, since 2009, tobacco products.
513
00:30:32,747 --> 00:30:34,541
{\an8}When I became center director,
514
00:30:34,624 --> 00:30:37,794
{\an8}e-cigarettes were not
under FDA regulation.
515
00:30:37,877 --> 00:30:42,674
It took the better part of seven years
to finally begin to regulate e-cigarettes.
516
00:30:42,757 --> 00:30:44,884
{\an8}The industry
has never been regulated
517
00:30:44,968 --> 00:30:47,053
{\an8}or taxed by the federal government,
518
00:30:47,136 --> 00:30:49,556
{\an8}but today, a new set of rules came out.
519
00:30:49,639 --> 00:30:52,851
{\an8}That includes banning sales
to anyone under 18,
520
00:30:52,934 --> 00:30:55,061
{\an8}requiring package warning labels,
521
00:30:55,144 --> 00:30:57,605
{\an8}and making all products
subject to government approval.
522
00:30:57,689 --> 00:31:00,358
Instead of it being the Wild West
523
00:31:00,441 --> 00:31:04,153
and the companies being able to do
anything that they wanted,
524
00:31:04,237 --> 00:31:06,364
if they wanted to bring
a new product to market,
525
00:31:06,447 --> 00:31:08,741
if they wanted
to make a claim for their products,
526
00:31:08,825 --> 00:31:10,827
{\an8}they had to come to FDA first.
527
00:31:11,494 --> 00:31:14,098
{\an8}E-cigarette makers
could keep selling any vaping product
528
00:31:14,122 --> 00:31:15,290
already on the market,
529
00:31:15,373 --> 00:31:17,584
but they couldn't introduce new ones.
530
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:21,629
So for JUUL to be told
basically to freeze in place
531
00:31:21,713 --> 00:31:24,299
and say, "We'll grandfather in this thing,
532
00:31:24,382 --> 00:31:27,427
{\an8}because you did it before
we were paying attention,
533
00:31:27,510 --> 00:31:30,513
{\an8}but now we're paying attention,
and if you try to do anything else,
534
00:31:30,597 --> 00:31:33,474
you're going to get
the full scrutiny and wrath of the FDA,"
535
00:31:33,558 --> 00:31:36,895
I think it just left them
feeling sort of static.
536
00:31:39,606 --> 00:31:42,442
It was right
in the middle of the morning.
537
00:31:44,277 --> 00:31:45,945
There was tension in the air
538
00:31:46,029 --> 00:31:48,281
because we knew
that there had been some rumblings
539
00:31:48,364 --> 00:31:52,035
{\an8}about some of the numbers
were really bad in terms of JUUL.
540
00:31:52,535 --> 00:31:54,662
{\an8}Anyway, we're hanging around,
541
00:31:54,746 --> 00:31:57,957
but, normally, the board
was insulated from the company.
542
00:31:58,041 --> 00:32:01,711
This is the first time this guy Pritzker
had ever spoken directly.
543
00:32:01,794 --> 00:32:05,673
Says, "We're having an immediate
all-hands meeting."
544
00:32:05,757 --> 00:32:10,011
He was very blunt, not happy at all
with the way things were going.
545
00:32:10,094 --> 00:32:12,847
"I see a lot of stupid decisions
being made."
546
00:32:12,931 --> 00:32:16,643
And he marched James up to the front,
the guy from the board got up there says,
547
00:32:16,726 --> 00:32:18,811
{\an8}"Effective immediately, James is out."
548
00:32:18,895 --> 00:32:21,648
{\an8}Right like that,
in front of the whole company.
549
00:32:23,149 --> 00:32:25,026
He was sitting on a table.
550
00:32:25,818 --> 00:32:28,905
He was looking down.
He wasn't looking up, uh...
551
00:32:29,781 --> 00:32:31,783
His feet were swinging in the air.
552
00:32:32,784 --> 00:32:34,494
And, uh, bam.
553
00:32:36,204 --> 00:32:39,874
I was so angry at that board
because he had built that company.
554
00:32:39,958 --> 00:32:42,001
He didn't deserve to be treated like that.
555
00:32:44,963 --> 00:32:48,967
{\an8}And all of a sudden, the board stepped in
and took a very active role.
556
00:32:50,677 --> 00:32:53,388
James being demoted
didn't really surprise me,
557
00:32:53,471 --> 00:32:56,391
but it did surprise me
that the board would come in and say,
558
00:32:56,474 --> 00:32:57,976
"We don't have a CEO."
559
00:32:58,059 --> 00:33:01,604
"We're just going to run this company
for the foreseeable future."
560
00:33:01,688 --> 00:33:04,065
Board members suddenly
de facto running the company
561
00:33:04,148 --> 00:33:05,608
is basically unheard of.
562
00:33:06,442 --> 00:33:10,989
{\an8}James and Adam had lost control
of their company by then,
563
00:33:11,072 --> 00:33:13,408
{\an8}because they gave away too much of it.
564
00:33:13,491 --> 00:33:16,911
That's when JUUL started
to become a company driven by profit
565
00:33:16,995 --> 00:33:21,457
{\an8}and this desire to become a corporation
rather than a scrappy little start-up.
566
00:33:22,834 --> 00:33:26,504
Because of the waning revenue
567
00:33:26,587 --> 00:33:29,549
{\an8}and the lack of performance from JUUL,
568
00:33:29,632 --> 00:33:32,260
{\an8}there was discussion
about killing JUUL altogether.
569
00:33:33,261 --> 00:33:36,431
It was a lot of fear that,
"What have we done?"
570
00:33:36,514 --> 00:33:40,393
"Have we just wasted all this energy
and time and resources in creating this?"
571
00:33:41,310 --> 00:33:44,731
But sometimes you get a lucky hit.
572
00:33:53,448 --> 00:33:54,448
So...
573
00:33:56,075 --> 00:33:57,160
{\an8}after the party,
574
00:33:57,243 --> 00:34:00,288
{\an8}I think that my relationship
with cigarettes changed.
575
00:34:05,835 --> 00:34:07,962
I carried the JUUL with me more often.
576
00:34:08,755 --> 00:34:12,091
When my friends saw me vaping that summer,
they were like, "What is that?"
577
00:34:14,886 --> 00:34:15,720
Mimi, go!
578
00:34:15,803 --> 00:34:18,097
I started college
in August 2016.
579
00:34:18,848 --> 00:34:21,601
Because I carried it
around with me so often,
580
00:34:21,684 --> 00:34:25,229
I did have a big influence on JUUL
in our college campus.
581
00:34:28,399 --> 00:34:30,860
{\an8}I remember my roommates
would make fun of me for it,
582
00:34:30,943 --> 00:34:32,695
but they eventually got one.
583
00:34:34,155 --> 00:34:37,033
You felt like you were
almost a part of a secret club
584
00:34:37,116 --> 00:34:38,409
that no one knew about yet.
585
00:34:39,285 --> 00:34:43,331
But I'd say around my sophomore year
of college, everyone had one,
586
00:34:43,414 --> 00:34:47,502
or at least everyone knew about it,
and they'd be like, "Can I hit your JUUL?"
587
00:34:51,589 --> 00:34:55,468
June or July 2016,
we just blew up.
588
00:34:56,344 --> 00:34:59,138
JUUL orders just took off out of nowhere.
589
00:34:59,222 --> 00:35:01,849
We are just flying through product.
590
00:35:01,933 --> 00:35:04,852
{\an8}When sales started rolling in,
all of a sudden I'm realizing,
591
00:35:04,936 --> 00:35:07,396
{\an8}"Wait a minute,
this is really going somewhere."
592
00:35:09,315 --> 00:35:12,735
The only thing I can guess is,
somewhere in New York,
593
00:35:12,819 --> 00:35:14,779
somebody asked the question,
"What is that?"
594
00:35:14,862 --> 00:35:16,614
And then we just got hot.
595
00:35:18,699 --> 00:35:20,576
I think it was word of mouth.
596
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,746
I ended up telling
a lot of my friends about JUUL.
597
00:35:23,830 --> 00:35:28,084
{\an8}Thirty-something people who were smokers
all switched over to the JUUL.
598
00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:31,212
A friend saying,
"I tried this and it really is great,"
599
00:35:31,295 --> 00:35:33,714
that's the best marketing
and advertising you can get.
600
00:35:34,549 --> 00:35:35,800
You can't beat that.
601
00:35:35,883 --> 00:35:38,344
But that kind of word of mouth takes time.
602
00:35:38,427 --> 00:35:41,013
A marketing campaign
that you do in 2015,
603
00:35:41,097 --> 00:35:44,183
you might not see
those sales numbers until 2016.
604
00:35:44,267 --> 00:35:47,854
{\an8}But a year to mass adoption
is actually extremely quick.
605
00:35:47,937 --> 00:35:51,357
JUUL took a product
that was previously considered cringy,
606
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,403
and made it into this cool,
aspirational, awesome thing
607
00:35:55,486 --> 00:35:58,364
that everyone had to have.
This party accessory almost.
608
00:36:01,242 --> 00:36:02,618
I would say the draw from this
609
00:36:02,702 --> 00:36:05,997
is as close to a cigarette as you'll get
from something electronic.
610
00:36:06,664 --> 00:36:09,917
Being influenced is easy, especially
if you tell someone "this is cool,"
611
00:36:10,001 --> 00:36:12,086
and they see it and say,
"You're right, it is."
612
00:36:12,170 --> 00:36:15,173
Then they start using it
and it spreads like wildfire from there.
613
00:36:19,802 --> 00:36:23,598
For me, it was when I walked
around the streets of Silicon Valley,
614
00:36:23,681 --> 00:36:25,141
and San Francisco,
615
00:36:25,224 --> 00:36:29,520
and it felt like two out of every
three people you passed were JUULing.
616
00:36:30,438 --> 00:36:33,941
And then, pretty quickly,
it started to be truly everywhere.
617
00:36:34,483 --> 00:36:37,987
Everyone saw Dave Chappelle's
stand-up, and he was using it.
618
00:36:38,070 --> 00:36:40,406
They didn't reach out to him.
They didn't pay him.
619
00:36:40,489 --> 00:36:42,283
He was just using it all on his own.
620
00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:44,035
You want to hit my vape pen?
621
00:36:44,660 --> 00:36:45,870
Sorry, nigga.
622
00:36:45,953 --> 00:36:48,331
I'm trying not to get herpes. My bad.
623
00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:50,930
There were
a bunch of celebrities
624
00:36:50,958 --> 00:36:53,502
posting about it on Instagram
in a way that felt genuine,
625
00:36:53,586 --> 00:36:56,547
which is the dream
for a company like that.
626
00:36:56,631 --> 00:37:01,469
That if you can just get into
the right handful of places, you're good.
627
00:37:03,221 --> 00:37:06,140
We were thrilled
when we saw that people
628
00:37:06,224 --> 00:37:08,517
that were influencers were loving JUUL.
629
00:37:10,436 --> 00:37:15,066
It's amazing how little of that
it takes from the right set of people
630
00:37:15,149 --> 00:37:17,818
to make a campaign like that take off.
631
00:37:18,444 --> 00:37:20,988
Because as soon as
a handful of celebrities do it,
632
00:37:21,072 --> 00:37:24,700
that means you've now exposed
your product and your idea to everybody.
633
00:37:28,996 --> 00:37:32,959
The Vaporized campaign,
I think it's brilliant marketing.
634
00:37:33,042 --> 00:37:34,585
It's textbook marketing.
635
00:37:34,669 --> 00:37:39,340
You know, you seed the conversation,
and you seed the influencers,
636
00:37:39,423 --> 00:37:43,469
{\an8}and you sit back,
and you watch the masses take notice.
637
00:37:45,221 --> 00:37:48,516
But JUUL's first impression
will forever be known
638
00:37:48,599 --> 00:37:53,562
as a brand that tried to recruit
the next generation of nicotine addicts.
639
00:37:54,522 --> 00:37:59,819
JUUL ran ads that looked
exactly like what you would do
640
00:37:59,902 --> 00:38:02,989
if you're Apple
and you're making a vaporizer.
641
00:38:03,990 --> 00:38:09,078
They had people who looked cool,
doing cool stuff, with JUULs.
642
00:38:09,161 --> 00:38:11,622
It wasn't a deep, serious dive
643
00:38:11,706 --> 00:38:14,917
into how they improved
the experience of ingesting nicotine.
644
00:38:15,001 --> 00:38:16,419
It was lifestyle ads.
645
00:38:16,502 --> 00:38:20,423
What your life could look like
if only you had this in your life.
646
00:38:20,506 --> 00:38:22,383
{\an8}They did not go into this
647
00:38:22,466 --> 00:38:25,886
{\an8}with regard for the side effects
of that sort of marketing.
648
00:38:25,970 --> 00:38:29,390
They saw this
as just another tech product.
649
00:38:29,473 --> 00:38:32,101
And it's not another tech product.
It's a nicotine product.
650
00:38:32,184 --> 00:38:36,564
Had JUUL decided to hire somebody
from the tobacco industry,
651
00:38:36,647 --> 00:38:40,526
that person likely would have immediately
sent up red flags and said, "No."
652
00:38:41,110 --> 00:38:43,738
With 20/20 hindsight,
what I would say to them
653
00:38:43,821 --> 00:38:46,240
{\an8}is take the marketing plan
654
00:38:47,033 --> 00:38:50,786
{\an8}that you learned how to do
when you were in business school,
655
00:38:50,870 --> 00:38:52,163
and throw it away.
656
00:38:52,246 --> 00:38:54,081
Because you don't make widgets,
657
00:38:54,165 --> 00:38:57,001
you make a product
that has nicotine in it.
658
00:38:58,002 --> 00:39:01,172
James and Adam
didn't totally understand that.
659
00:39:04,550 --> 00:39:07,845
I've been conflicted
about my role in all of this, over time.
660
00:39:07,928 --> 00:39:09,764
I wrote an article a lot of people read
661
00:39:09,847 --> 00:39:11,807
{\an8}saying this was
the iPhone of e-cigarettes,
662
00:39:11,891 --> 00:39:13,934
{\an8}which is not a small thing to say.
663
00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:18,856
I think I was right, in retrospect,
but did I help that be right? Probably.
664
00:39:18,939 --> 00:39:20,399
And I think, as a tech reporter,
665
00:39:20,483 --> 00:39:23,069
it would have been easy enough
for me to leave it alone
666
00:39:23,152 --> 00:39:25,488
and say, "This is not fundamentally
a tech product."
667
00:39:25,571 --> 00:39:29,408
"This is somebody trying to make tech
out of something else."
668
00:39:29,492 --> 00:39:32,661
And a thing I didn't realize at the time,
that I wish I had,
669
00:39:32,745 --> 00:39:37,124
was their goal was not
to make people quit smoking.
670
00:39:37,208 --> 00:39:39,377
Their goal
was to make people start JUULing.
671
00:39:39,460 --> 00:39:43,089
And I never asked the question,
and I wish I had,
672
00:39:43,172 --> 00:39:45,800
"What if this works?
What if everyone does start JUULing?"
673
00:39:45,883 --> 00:39:46,717
"Then what?"
674
00:39:49,011 --> 00:39:53,641
I don't think anyone could
have anticipated how many children
675
00:39:53,724 --> 00:39:55,351
would want this product.
676
00:39:55,434 --> 00:39:56,894
♪ Where's my JUUL? ♪
677
00:39:56,977 --> 00:39:58,104
♪ Where's my JUUL? ♪
678
00:39:58,187 --> 00:40:00,314
First impressions
are everything on internet,
679
00:40:00,398 --> 00:40:03,067
so when you put the JUUL campaign
into the world,
680
00:40:03,150 --> 00:40:05,986
it's like releasing a genie.
There's no going back.
681
00:40:06,695 --> 00:40:08,239
♪ Where's my JUUL? ♪
682
00:40:08,322 --> 00:40:09,448
♪ Where's my JUUL? ♪
683
00:40:09,990 --> 00:40:11,450
{\an8}♪ So not cool! ♪
684
00:40:12,159 --> 00:40:13,160
{\an8}♪ Where's my JUUL? ♪
61667
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