Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather has announced Mayweather Vapes, a new disposable vape brand that includes the TMT Vape 15000. He revealed the new venture via an Instagram post, urging fans to ‘step into the ring with 15 unbeatable contenders.’
Each disposable offers up to 15,000 puffs and cost $12.99 or $65 for a pack of six. Flavors include Strawberry Watermelon, Banana Ice, Pineapple Mango Ice, Miami Mint, and Tropical Rainbow.
TMT Vape 15000 is one of Mayweather’s many ventures, which all fall under his brand name TMT. It follows his champagne brand, Le Bon Argent Brut, and his whiskey brand, Good Money Canadian Whisky. These products are marketed as aspirational, embodying a sense of opulence and luxury.
Mayweather famously doesn’t smoke or drink. As far back as a decade ago, he admitted to Texan regulators that representations of him smoking on TV were false. “I don’t want to just sell a fight,1“Floyd Mayweather says reality show that included smoking weed was all,” The Independent, Sep. 26, 2014. https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/boxing/floyd-mayweather-says-reality-show-that-included-smoking-weed-was-all-entertainment-9758581.html” Mayweather told the regulators. “I want to sell a lifestyle.” Speaking on his marketing tactics, he said, “It’s a new generation, a younger generation […] it’s all about entertainment.”
Critics have raised eyebrows at the TMT Vape 15000, seeing it as a clear cash grab that goes against the ex-boxer’s personal values. His announcement also comes amid numerous concerns about youth vaping, and especially disposables, which are the most commonly used device among young e-cigarette users2C. for T. Products, “Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey,” FDA, Nov. 2023, Available: https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco-survey.
In recent years, growing concerns over youth vaping and general health have given rise to far stricter e-cigarette laws. By late 2022, Californian officials enacted Senate Bill 793, which bans menthol cigarettes and flavored vaping products. Given that Mayweather won’t be able to sell the TMT Vape 15000 in his neighborhood of Los Angeles, we have to wonder where he plans to launch the product.
According to Tobacco Control, very few Californians took the ban seriously. Online queries for flavored vapes rose by 161.7%3E. C. Leas et al., “E-commerce licensing loopholes: a case study of online shopping for tobacco products following a statewide sales restriction on flavoured tobacco in California,” Tobacco Control, Nov. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2023-058269 and continued to be higher than usual for 6 weeks after the ban. Lead researcher Eric Leas4“Eric Leas | UCSD Profiles,” profiles.ucsd.edu. https://profiles.ucsd.edu/eric.leas said, “The absence of explicit regulations on e-commerce sales can create loopholes in enforcing tobacco control laws, allowing consumers to easily access restricted products online.”
Mayweather Vapes is not the first brand to take advantage of the loopholes in e-cigarette legislation. Elf Bar sidestepped the FDA’s ban by rebranding as EBCreate to pass customs checks. Despite the FDA’s best attempts to seize counterfeit and illegal e-cigarettes before they enter the country, the organization seems ill-equipped to deal with the size of the problem.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, one of the most vocal advocates against e-cigarettes, has no time for excuses. “There is absolutely no reason why FDA continues to permit unauthorized e-cigarettes to remain on store shelves,”5Benjamin Weiss, “FDA can’t keep punting on illegal vape enforcement, Senator Durbin tells agency commissioner”, January 16 2024. https://www.courthousenews.com/fda-cant-keep-punting-on-illegal-vape-enforcement-senator-durbin-tells-agency-commissioner/ he wrote, “FDA has the tools and authority to clear the market of unauthorized products today.”
Only time will tell how the FDA will handle yet another unauthorized e-cigarette entering the market. The TMT Vape 15000 might never hit shelves, especially considering the immense amount of public pressure levied against the FDA.
