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ESG

MARKETING AND YOUTH ACCESS

Our vision is a world where only adult consumers purchase and use our products. As a seller of products intended for adult-use only, society demands a higher burden of responsibility from us, and we are committed to proactively preventing underage appeal and access to our products.

Our commitment

We are dedicated to the responsible marketing of all of our products and are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations governing our products. TPB targets its marketing activities to both male and female current nicotine, cannabinoid, and other active consumers that are 21 years of age and older. Preventing youth access and use of our products is a key to our continued success.

Our approach

As a seller of products intended for adult-use only, society demands a higher burden of responsibility from us, and we are committed to proactively preventing the underage appeal and access to those products. For example, Turning Point Brands was an integral part of the effort to create marketing standards for the vaping industry.

We are dedicated to the responsible marketing of our adult-use products and are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations governing them. TPB targets its marketing activities to both male and female current nicotine, cannabinoid, and other active consumers who are 21 years of age and older. The marketing of our adult-use products does not include content directed toward minors, thereby prohibiting marketing content such as childish images, cartoons, characters, mascots, juvenile designs, or other themes or imagery known to resonate with minors. The Company plans to continue to engage in appropriately targeted marketing activity, consistent with all legal requirements, industry standards, and best practices.

our approach image

Preventing youth access and use of our adult-use products is a key to our continued success. All of our adult-use products are intended to be sold to and used by adults 21 years of age and older, and we have proactively implemented programs to prevent youth access. For TPB’s own online retail (B2C) sales, TPB utilizes a robust third-party online age verification process for purchases by consumers. On its business-to-business (B2B) website section, TPB offers suggestions of resources for its downstream customers related to prevention of youth access. These resources include information related to retailer-focused FDA Guidance, third-party age verification software available to both brick-and-mortar and online sellers, and helpful websites that offer compliance tools, e.g., WeCard.

TPB monitors the compliance of downstream distributors and retailers by periodically auditing customer entities on the FDA Warning Letter database. TPB also maintains a customer service contact which accepts reports of retailer issues related to underage sales. When TPB receives reports of this nature, it compiles them and reports them to FDA on a quarterly basis.

2020 Highlights

Turning Point Brands continued to achieve 100 percent training in our Youth Marketing Policy of those involved in marketing Turning Point Brands products. Our legal team also hosts a bimonthly Q&A with the internal marketing and product team.

Turning Point Brands continued to achieve 100 percent training in Youth Access Prevention for those involved in developing, purchasing, marketing, and selling the Turning Point Brands product portfolio.

Marketing and Youth Access 2020 2019
Responsible Marketing 100% adherence to our Corporate Marketing Principles (CMP) % of employees involved with CMP trained on policy 100% 100%
100% adherence to our global Youth Access Prevention (YAP) Guidelines % of employees involved with YAP trained on policy 100% 100%

Note:
“Employees” is defined as those involved in marketing TPB product portfolio
“Employees” is defined as those involved in developing, purchasing, marketing, and selling TPB product portfoilo.

Moving Forward

  • Continue to be proactive in our efforts to combat underage access and appeal of our products by continuously monitoring our marketing practices and auditing our measures to prevent underage sales.
  • Continue to monitor the compliance of downstream distributors and retailers by periodically auditing customer entities on the FDA Warning Letter database.
  • Continue to focus on the education of our wholesalers and retailers on the prevention of underage access to our products.