Mango. Banana Taffy Freeze. Cool Mint. Berry Watermelon. Strawberry Cream. These sound like candy flavors you’d find in a checkout aisle, but they’re not. They’re nicotine products, sitting on shelves in convenience stores across the country. From disposable e-cigarettes to oral nicotine pouches, today’s tobacco and nicotine products are intentionally designed to appeal to youth.  

Not only do e-cigarettes come in sweet flavors that appeal to youth, but they are also often sold for low prices and at a discount. Disposable e-cigarettes now comprise over 93% of the U.S. market and are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. They have also been increasing in nicotine concentration as well as volume, so a single disposable device may contain as much nicotine as an entire carton of cigarettes [1]. The increase in nicotine concentration means they also put youth more at risk for nicotine dependence.  

Dr. Brian King, Executive Vice President for U.S. Programs at the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and former Deputy Director for Research Translation at the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, once said of flavored e-cigarettes, “The advertising will lead a horse to water, the flavors will get him to drink, and the nicotine keeps them coming back for more. That’s the trifecta of factors that have influenced youth use in this country.”  

A key component of that enticing advertising in retail stores is the price promotions offered by the tobacco companies. Tobacco companies spend billions of dollars on price promotions and discounts each year to lower the price of their products for consumers because they know low price is a key driver of consumption, especially among price-sensitive populations like youth. Research has also shown that coupons and price promotions move youth along from experimentation with tobacco and nicotine products to using them regularly [2]. 

The advertising youth get exposed to in retail stores also allows tobacco companies to build a brand relationship with youth, normalizes use, and leads to youth initiation of these products [3].  In many cases, ads for these products are placed right at eye level for kids and the products themselves are placed right beside other youth-friendly items, like candy, toys, and ice cream.  

So it is by no accident that in 2024, 1.63 million middle and high school students across the United States, including 7.8% of high school students, reported using e-cigarettes within the past 30 days. Of those students using e-cigarettes, 87.6% use flavored e-cigarettes.   

E-cigarettes have been the most popular tobacco product among youth since 2014, but the products continue to evolve and find new ways to appeal to and hook youth. One of the newest and most concerning trends is the gamification of an already addicting product, with new “smart vapes.” These devices include on-device digital screens with games, customizations, and interactive notifications that can feed addiction to screens as well as nicotine. The FDA has only authorized the sale of 39 e-cigarette products, and while no “smart vape” has been authorized, two “smart vape” brands, Geek Bar and Raz, are among the top five brands sold nationally between July and September 2025.  

But e-cigarettes aren’t the only products vying for youth attention in retail stores. Oral nicotine pouches like Zyn have become the second most popular tobacco product among youth, and use among youth and young adults ages 13-27 quadrupled between 2022 and 2025. These products also come in a variety of sweet flavors, can be used tely, and many also contain a high concentration of nicotine. They can be purchased for an average of $4 to $5, half the cost of a pack of cigarettes in many states. Like e-cigarettes, they are often offered at a discount. Some companies selling them offer rewards programs, which encourage people to trade in their used pouch cans for prizes like valuable tech products, Amazon gift cards, and hair styling products. Also like e-cigarettes, only a limited number of nicotine pouches have actually been authorized for sale by the FDA (currently 26 products made by two brands), but there are a number of other products still found on store shelves. 

While the legal age of sale for any tobacco product across the country is 21, retailers remain a key source. According to 2024 data from the TEEN+ study, among underage youth and young adults who reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30-days, “30.6% of youth (13–17) and 48.7% of young adults (18–20) reported purchasing from a vape or tobacco shop and 23.0% of youth (13–17) and 39.9% of young adults (18–20) reported purchasing from a gas station or convenience store.”  

However, there are ways to protect youth from exposure to marketing for and access to these products in stores, as well as ways to make them less appealing to youth. Two states have passed policies that prohibit the sale of most flavored tobacco products, and four other states prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes specifically. In addition, close to 400 localities have passed policies restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products.  

Cities and counties can also reduce youth access and exposure to these products and their marketing by limiting the number, type, and location of retailers that can sell tobacco and nicotine products, usually through licensing or zoning laws. Another option is to prohibit discounts and promotions on these products, as two states and many localities have done, as well as to raise prices through excise taxes and minimum floor prices.  

Mollie Mayfield, a Senior Policy Analyst at Counter Tools, has a decade of experience working on commercial tobacco prevention and control in the retail environment. In that time, she has worked with partners across the country, providing technical assistance, training, consultation, and subject matter expertise on policy, systems, and environmental solutions for improving the health of the retail environment and advancing health equity, and she has served as the managing editor of CounterTobacco.org. She received her Master of Public Health in Health Behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BA in Psychology with a concentration in Community and Global Health from Macalester College.

Citations:  

1. Diaz MC, Silver NA, Bertrand A, et al. Bigger, stronger and cheaper: growth in e-cigarette market driven by disposable devices with more e-liquid, higher nicotine concentration and declining prices. Tobacco Control 2025;34:65-70. 
2. Slater SJ, Chaloupka FJ, Wakefield M, Johnston LD, O’Malley PM. The impact of retail cigarette marketing practices on youth smoking uptake. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007 May;161(5):440-5. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.161.5.440. PMID: 17485618 
3. Robertson L, Cameron C, McGee R, Marsh L, Hoek J. Point-of-sale tobacco promotion and youth smoking: a meta-analysis. Tob Control. 2016 Dec;25(e2):e83-e89. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2015-052586. Epub 2016 Jan 4. PMID: 26728139.