Gave this a go primarily because it's exhausting searching for something new. This story is actually pretty interesting and if they dug more into unraveling the actual business it would be great. But they spent a crazy amount of time with these influencers and it distracted greatly from the problems this company found itself facing. I mean.. they have Taylor Lorenz in this documentary, why?? It's all of these unnecessary interviews and frivolous input from these outside characters that drag this storyline on too long. I guess I was more looking for an examination of the failures of the business and this would be business case study with some backstory on the founders and the current legal problems. It isn't awful by any means, this doc just incorporates too many erroneous characters that don't really provide any value to the story.
27 Reviews
JUUL was the scape goat for vaping
Marlon105713 October 2023
The documentary is very good, but the problem is because JUUL was on top of the mountain during the whole vape epidemic, they took all the bad press. Kids were buying pods off market with a bunch of crap in it but because JUUL was the name brand that they took all the bad press. It wasn't totally all their fault. The documentary is pretty good and I know for sure what was going on because I was in the middle of it as I was working in talent acquisition as a JUUL Partner during this time. I have talked to some of the people in the interviews and while they did grow substantially and they did come and market too younger kids at the end they are responsible for the choices not JUUL.
Good business startup story - hypocritical health story
travelmjc14 October 2023
So we have to label nicotine products with a warning: "Nicotine is addictive" but not sugar products? Or caffeinated coffee or green tea (which also contains nicotine)? Nicotine is used to treat Parkinsons. Nicotine is basically the same as vitamin B3 found in every multivitamin. It is basically harmless when inhaled. Check out Discover magazine's article about this "wonder drug" and draw your own conclusions.
The business aspect of the story on the other hand is pretty cool but they chose a questionable demographic in young people who don't typically have the wherewithal or wisdom to practice constraint.
The hypocrisy runs deep when it comes to protecting kids from unhealthy practices and the likelihood is that the tobacco lobby is behind the anti vape movement.
The business aspect of the story on the other hand is pretty cool but they chose a questionable demographic in young people who don't typically have the wherewithal or wisdom to practice constraint.
The hypocrisy runs deep when it comes to protecting kids from unhealthy practices and the likelihood is that the tobacco lobby is behind the anti vape movement.
Doc completely ignores crucial fact.
cpfnvyhw11 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I smoked cigarettes for 27 years and they were killing me. I always stunk, bad breath, yellow teeth, social outcast, can't stay at events too long, etc. I was probably going to get lung disease and die. I did literally everything possible to quit and couldn't. Everything.
I tried vape ONCE and never smoked a cigarette again. I'm going to live now and I am beyond grateful.
I'm sorry that Gen Z is getting addicted to nicotine. HOWEVER, burning tobacco was causing the death of both boomers and gen X. This doc barely mentions the millions of lives saved by vaping products and it's a shame. It's like we don't even matter.
I tried vape ONCE and never smoked a cigarette again. I'm going to live now and I am beyond grateful.
I'm sorry that Gen Z is getting addicted to nicotine. HOWEVER, burning tobacco was causing the death of both boomers and gen X. This doc barely mentions the millions of lives saved by vaping products and it's a shame. It's like we don't even matter.
Important, but not good
atleverton12 October 2023
If you are wondering why vaping became so popular, you should check out this documentary series. The answer to that question is a combination of an altruistic mission to try to get people to stop smoking and one of the biggest social experiments of a generation. Honestly, probably multiple generations. The style of the documentary is a bit questionable, there are gratuitous scenes of animation interspliced with talking head interviews and one lady who seems to be far too enthusiastic about many of her talking points, include teenage deaths and the ultimate futility of life as a member of gen Z. I think its message is an important one. I personally Wonder what the results of this experiment will be in 20, 30 or 50 years will we see an entire generation of people wiped out by cancer? Or will consuming nicotine and high amounts have no adverse effects? These are important questions, it seems insane to consider that in the rush for technological innovation no one at that company asked themselves that question.
Good doc, but could be edited better
dlmiley19 October 2023
Watched "Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul" on Netflix. Interesting documentary on the product that was created with good intentions but fell victim to greed by marketing it to kids. It is a shame that they failed because vaping does help adult smokers kick the habit since most of the carcinogens come from the burning process - not the nicotine. And Juul was unfairly blamed for the abuse of the product when kids used the product to vape THC which wrecked their lungs. So, in summary this documentary mini-series is worth watching both from a business and human-interest perspective. Check it out. 7/10, as it could be edited better as many scenes are repetitive.
If you want to quite a vape
karaningole-0551023 November 2023
I am vape addict from 4 year but in 2023 from 1 jan i decided i want to quite a vape. Why? Because i am stressful all the day i want to vape every second vape just take over my life. I feel broke. I just want to quite it and discuss with my friends. My one close friend recommend a book called 'Dr Robert Turner 7 baby steps to quite vaping' i doesn't believe that a book can change my habit. But i was wrong this book is not like other ones its a story of alex (anyone can releate to that character who is vape addict)how he follow Dr. Robert turner 7 baby steps formula and became vape free. Its just a mindblowing story and step to guide you how you can also quite it. I also like the quote of the book (I can, I will)
I am not promoting any book i just want to help the people.
Who is like me and quite the vape.
I am not promoting any book i just want to help the people.
Who is like me and quite the vape.
Sad
princebe6 January 2024
So the US government basically got rid of the only reputable vape system in the US and now the most popular disposable vape comes from China. How does this make any sense? As long as vape exists, kids are going to use it, so doesn't it make more sense that it should be made in the US? Some of these reviews that I have read are about the legitimacy of vaping. It should be about this documentary, which is very well-made. Vaping is a viable alternative to smoking cigarettes and the US government has ignorantly eliminated the best possible alternative. This just goes to show how politicians are so out of touch with the common man.
Bullet points on seems to be great .. and bad
giangnt-7621616 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The final conclusion in this series is generally put the blame on irresponsible marketing target on teenager, but not quite the product itself. Annnddd.. I feel like the product seems pretty legit, not something so evil comparing to whole lot of other bad and harmful products like cigarette, alcohol, etc. So I really don't know, then I just list down things here:
Stanford and product design are great
Great pitch "A safe cigarette?"
Product is great, vaporizer and else
Research result of nicotine salt is great
Move fast and break thing strategy is great
Don't understand the point of using vaporizer for canabis, because the series presents JUUL like a cool technology for canabis smoker. OR is this like a friendly way to introduce canabis to kids because of its secret way of using, which should be dangerous?
Digital feature of smoking device sounds pretty dope, and quite reasonable approach for the illegal use epidemic.
The timeline to earn revenue is pressing from the investors that founders have no way but to follow?
A way to push marketing and sales, is to teen, which sounds reasonable to meet with the expected return from investors.
Cause of lung failing is Vitamin E not because of too much smoke sucked in the lung ( which takes so long to be discovered ) ?? What if someone fix the Vitamin E part, is this better to use than a cigarette?
Nicotine is strong therefore addictive. What about the addiction of caffeine, non-chemical product like Instagram, gambling?
Big Tobacco buy is reasonable, tobacco is bad but legal, but now they want to shift into more healthy way, why not?
Do people actually think about vengeance on tobacco company when their loved ones died because of cigarette? Sounds unreasonable and weird
Contradiction in the series itself: "Basically you should only inhale air in the lung" vs. "Experiment on 4 pack of tobacco vs vaping continuously"
Vaping and e-cig is here way before JUUL was out. Is JUUL like a successful business use case for vaping?
Quick google on vaping: It's widely recognized, either banned or under regulated on several countries including Asia.
---
Bottom line is I don't understand what message the producer is delivering in this series and seems like lots of good in this JUUL business, but they tried hard to make the good looks bad, which make the whole thing quite weird. Anyway it's a good story to watch, but a bit too unnecessarily long.
Stanford and product design are great
Great pitch "A safe cigarette?"
Product is great, vaporizer and else
Research result of nicotine salt is great
Move fast and break thing strategy is great
Don't understand the point of using vaporizer for canabis, because the series presents JUUL like a cool technology for canabis smoker. OR is this like a friendly way to introduce canabis to kids because of its secret way of using, which should be dangerous?
Digital feature of smoking device sounds pretty dope, and quite reasonable approach for the illegal use epidemic.
The timeline to earn revenue is pressing from the investors that founders have no way but to follow?
A way to push marketing and sales, is to teen, which sounds reasonable to meet with the expected return from investors.
Cause of lung failing is Vitamin E not because of too much smoke sucked in the lung ( which takes so long to be discovered ) ?? What if someone fix the Vitamin E part, is this better to use than a cigarette?
Nicotine is strong therefore addictive. What about the addiction of caffeine, non-chemical product like Instagram, gambling?
Big Tobacco buy is reasonable, tobacco is bad but legal, but now they want to shift into more healthy way, why not?
Do people actually think about vengeance on tobacco company when their loved ones died because of cigarette? Sounds unreasonable and weird
Contradiction in the series itself: "Basically you should only inhale air in the lung" vs. "Experiment on 4 pack of tobacco vs vaping continuously"
Vaping and e-cig is here way before JUUL was out. Is JUUL like a successful business use case for vaping?
Quick google on vaping: It's widely recognized, either banned or under regulated on several countries including Asia.
---
Bottom line is I don't understand what message the producer is delivering in this series and seems like lots of good in this JUUL business, but they tried hard to make the good looks bad, which make the whole thing quite weird. Anyway it's a good story to watch, but a bit too unnecessarily long.
Very even-handed look at milieu that swept up Juul
jeffdstockton23 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I was pleasantly surprised that that this is NOT another true story of the vile greed ethic of Stanford & Silicon Valley. What the documentary shows is a well-paced and fair, straightforward depiction of what became competing interests around Juul. The product did - does - what the founders wanted it to do: provide an alternative to get people away the known toxic issues of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke.
It was a startup, and they chose (handed off responsibility for) a marketing campaign that was 'successful' for the marketing guys, but off-message for the company. But, because of the success of Juul in the new industry of vaping (non-conbustion delivery of nicotine), the company had a target on its back.
The founders needed help for managing a company of this size and trajectory. Again, a good Board would have - should have - helped in this, but they were more focused on quick return for their investment.
This is a great story, told well, about political opportunists (San Fran AG, several States'AGs, FDA, Congress) and shallow mainstream media that prefers the hit pieces instead of facts and analyses is the truth that was only a little more complicated to tell. Juul gets painted with blame for illegal activity & consequences of other parties, but media & politics didn't want to give up the momentum of the false narrative that kept people's attention.
This is well done, which is not a surprise. This is not a story of bad guys greedily doing nefarious things to join the three comma club. They actually succeeded in helping millions of adults quit cigarettes.
It was a startup, and they chose (handed off responsibility for) a marketing campaign that was 'successful' for the marketing guys, but off-message for the company. But, because of the success of Juul in the new industry of vaping (non-conbustion delivery of nicotine), the company had a target on its back.
The founders needed help for managing a company of this size and trajectory. Again, a good Board would have - should have - helped in this, but they were more focused on quick return for their investment.
This is a great story, told well, about political opportunists (San Fran AG, several States'AGs, FDA, Congress) and shallow mainstream media that prefers the hit pieces instead of facts and analyses is the truth that was only a little more complicated to tell. Juul gets painted with blame for illegal activity & consequences of other parties, but media & politics didn't want to give up the momentum of the false narrative that kept people's attention.
This is well done, which is not a surprise. This is not a story of bad guys greedily doing nefarious things to join the three comma club. They actually succeeded in helping millions of adults quit cigarettes.
Damning assessment of Juul's legacy
paul-allaer12 October 2023
As Episode 1 of "Big Vape" (2023 release; 4 episodes ranging from 43 to 51 min) opens, we are introduced to Stanford students and smokers James Monsees and Adam Bowen. On a smoke break, they fantasize of coming up with a better product that is less harmful to a person's health. Upon graduating from Stanford, they pursue their crazy idea... At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from longtime writer-producer-director R. J. Cutler. Here he reassesses the legacy of the maker of "the iPhone of e-cigarettes". I was vaguely aware of the rise and fall of Juul, but to see it laid out like this gives a entirely new perspective. And as it turns out, Monsees and Bowen say one thing (to rid the world of cigarette smoking), only to end up doing a great deal of harm themselves, and for what. (Money, of course!) Check out Episode 3, focusing on the teen vaping crisis that overwhelmed this country (and still does a lot of damage today). And what of Big Tobacco in all this? Just watch! These 4 episodes flew by in no time. Last but not least: this is listed on IMDb and several other platforms as "Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul". There is not a single reference to that in the 4 part documentary, which is simply tltled "Big Vape".
"Big Vape" premiered on Netflix earlier this week. I binge-watched all 4 episodes in a single setting. If you have any interest in how one company decided to take on Big Tobacco by creating a supposed less harmful alternative, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from longtime writer-producer-director R. J. Cutler. Here he reassesses the legacy of the maker of "the iPhone of e-cigarettes". I was vaguely aware of the rise and fall of Juul, but to see it laid out like this gives a entirely new perspective. And as it turns out, Monsees and Bowen say one thing (to rid the world of cigarette smoking), only to end up doing a great deal of harm themselves, and for what. (Money, of course!) Check out Episode 3, focusing on the teen vaping crisis that overwhelmed this country (and still does a lot of damage today). And what of Big Tobacco in all this? Just watch! These 4 episodes flew by in no time. Last but not least: this is listed on IMDb and several other platforms as "Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul". There is not a single reference to that in the 4 part documentary, which is simply tltled "Big Vape".
"Big Vape" premiered on Netflix earlier this week. I binge-watched all 4 episodes in a single setting. If you have any interest in how one company decided to take on Big Tobacco by creating a supposed less harmful alternative, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
Amazing documentary of current times
zeynepgecer12 October 2023
I'm not living in the United States so I only knew the going down part of the vape and I had no idea about the part of the brand becoming a nationwide legend in the first place. Amazing genius people that's for sure and I really respect that amount of intelligence. But empathy is another part where you would always encounter the laws to protect people and especially children. I can see the difference of our law system for example, which were inspired by the Swiss Law which is completely prepared by the expert authorities and accepted and followed by the nation, and, the United States law system that is created and evolved by eventually by the intentionally good and free but more average people and not the nationwide accepted expert authority figures. It's a shame that vaping for teenagers can be actually allowed by the law in the first place. This obviously is a smoking related issue that should have been audited by the government first to make sure the people are protected. That speed of success is very unprecedented, I'm mindblown. This allowed them only focus on the product and not the society. But that freedom idea in the US makes them to make a difference by that kind of speed and that's a choice to make it seems. There are more mindful laws in Europe but they are more protective of the future generations and therefore more restrictive. The US version is both a blessing and a curse.
I loved the documentary and seeing all the perspectives. Amazing story of the genius people and the conscious people dealing with the geniuses who use their Ferrari brains recklessly. It stimulated my brain a lot, thanks.
I loved the documentary and seeing all the perspectives. Amazing story of the genius people and the conscious people dealing with the geniuses who use their Ferrari brains recklessly. It stimulated my brain a lot, thanks.
Wow, missed opportunity here
Watcher_8512 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I was a smoker for decades and I credit vaping with me being able to toss the Marlboro cigarettes away. Boomers like me were and should still be the target market for using vape devices.
Juul screwed up BIG time, using their marketing to target kids. If they would have just stuck with their core mission to help smokers get off analog, this colossal mess could've been avoided.
While I agree kids should be banned from purchasing and using these products, I watch these outraged, politically connected parents who seemed to be BLIND to what their kids were doing with Juuls. I raised 4 kids and I sure as hell knew what they were doing on the daily. They're all adults now and will ALL tell you I didn't miss crap like this. These are the same liberal parents who are happily allowing their children to dictate their gender at the age of four. How could they be this misinformed or caught unaware?
The marketing arm of Juul screwed the pooch totally and ruined this company. The founders, in their quest to make money, sold out to big tobacco and their "do anything" to win approach doomed their company.
Watching the congressional hearings was a joke. There were your usual corrupt politicians, trying to take down a company that may have deserved a comeuppance but I'm betting more of them are invested in defense contractors and making millions from making war in this world. That particular part of the doc was infuriating, knowing how politicians profit from every evil company out there. Listening to them preach was disgusting.
Juul f-ed up. They didn't follow their own mission statement and allowed themselves to be caught up in profit and greed. Their investors should have known better as should the founders.
Where was the focus on the millions that have thrown away traditional tobacco cigarettes due to the option to vape instead? Too bad this doc barely touched on that. THAT should've been focused on as much as these idiotic kids using Juuls.
Juul screwed up BIG time, using their marketing to target kids. If they would have just stuck with their core mission to help smokers get off analog, this colossal mess could've been avoided.
While I agree kids should be banned from purchasing and using these products, I watch these outraged, politically connected parents who seemed to be BLIND to what their kids were doing with Juuls. I raised 4 kids and I sure as hell knew what they were doing on the daily. They're all adults now and will ALL tell you I didn't miss crap like this. These are the same liberal parents who are happily allowing their children to dictate their gender at the age of four. How could they be this misinformed or caught unaware?
The marketing arm of Juul screwed the pooch totally and ruined this company. The founders, in their quest to make money, sold out to big tobacco and their "do anything" to win approach doomed their company.
Watching the congressional hearings was a joke. There were your usual corrupt politicians, trying to take down a company that may have deserved a comeuppance but I'm betting more of them are invested in defense contractors and making millions from making war in this world. That particular part of the doc was infuriating, knowing how politicians profit from every evil company out there. Listening to them preach was disgusting.
Juul f-ed up. They didn't follow their own mission statement and allowed themselves to be caught up in profit and greed. Their investors should have known better as should the founders.
Where was the focus on the millions that have thrown away traditional tobacco cigarettes due to the option to vape instead? Too bad this doc barely touched on that. THAT should've been focused on as much as these idiotic kids using Juuls.
Disingenuous
albundy6048216 October 2023
This "crisis" is the equivalent of designing the perfect ass-kicking machine. Then, the users complain because they are getting their asses kick at previously unknown levels. JUUL ended up being the scapegoat for all vaping, but not having the choice of nicotine levels was a bad choice. You had that choice in do-it-yourself "messy" products, but, in the end, it's still a nicotine delivery system. These guys did what they set out to do, but ended up not having the foresight to realize what their product would actually be used like...and marketing to kids was the smoking gun, pun intended. Kids are too gullible to be using this.
On the risk to have a mission but no/low ethics
fabienpierrenicolas21 November 2023
I did like the narrative structure with the drive of the founders to build a great product and have a noble mission turning into a profit maximization enterprise thanks to their VCs, an efficient CEO and an influencer driven marketing. Of course, this is building on other trends like social media but there is a learning for all founders to acknowledge you can't both be disrupting an industey without having in place some healthy check & balances when it comes to your company. At times, I wished they followed the Uber SuperPumped route to have actors and focused more on great storytelling but this might have been cheaper to film / edit it with real testimonials.
So stupid
mspatari14 October 2023
Started off interesting. Then took a nose dive. I quit smoking over a pack a day thanks to vaping. I'm failing to see how the advertising was aimed at teens. The models looked to be in their 20's. Teens are idiots. That's how I started smoking at 15. And it wasn't from commercials 🙄. For everyone crying about their poor teens vaping, would you prefer cigarettes? Because that's what they would have gone. It's called harm reduction ppl. How about parents start taking accountability for their spawn.
News flash mom and dad!! Your precious teens are drinking! And having sec! Gasp, clutches pearls.
News flash mom and dad!! Your precious teens are drinking! And having sec! Gasp, clutches pearls.
Great series to show how braindead, uneducated and stupid young adults are in America.
rchosen-193-55356 November 2023
This documentary is hilarious as many of he young adults in it still think they are cool despite how bad vaping is. These are young adults that may have gone to college, that want to be cool, that are easily influenced because they lack self control. They are hate cigs because they are bad, but bought into vaping not realizing they are exactly the same as their parents and grandparents were. Heck, some people in the documentary admit to being underage or lying to get into Juul parties.
So if you want to watch a documentary about vaping, this is for you. But if you want to watch a documentary showing how young people, who claim to be smarter the older folk, are just as dumb and failing us. This documentary is also for you.
Also be sure to check out the 3rd video in which Gen Z act like life is horrible and the world is ending for them. It's kinda hilarious to see young people who think life is hard in the age of technology where things are way easier then they used to be. "Life is hard so its nice to just be able to go on social media and scroll to feel better". Wow, what a sad life. These are out future leaders.
It should be noted that while yes, the kids getting sick were buying third party stuff, Juul workers who were interviewed STILL made excuses and claimed Juul is still ok to use. Yes its better then cigarettes. But not by alot. Your still sucking down carcinogenic.
To claim its safe because its not as bad as a cig is like saying "I used to drink a 12 pack of beer then drive, now I only drink 8 beers then drive! It's much safer!" Or its like playing russian roulette, but instead of one of 6 chambers being blank, 2 are instead. Still very much dangerous.
The interviewed workers who praise Juul still, they still never talk about the fact that kids still vape now. They don't seem to mention it still is hurtful to anyone, especially teens. Mind you we still haven't seen the long term effects of vapping fully.
If you manage to stick around to the end of the series, you will see those who spoke (but did not appear on camera) really rip into Juul. My review already has some people downvoting it buts thats ok, it goes to show blind people will vap no matter what because they truly think a product like 10% less bad for you is somehow a great end goal to get away from cigs.
So if you want to watch a documentary about vaping, this is for you. But if you want to watch a documentary showing how young people, who claim to be smarter the older folk, are just as dumb and failing us. This documentary is also for you.
Also be sure to check out the 3rd video in which Gen Z act like life is horrible and the world is ending for them. It's kinda hilarious to see young people who think life is hard in the age of technology where things are way easier then they used to be. "Life is hard so its nice to just be able to go on social media and scroll to feel better". Wow, what a sad life. These are out future leaders.
It should be noted that while yes, the kids getting sick were buying third party stuff, Juul workers who were interviewed STILL made excuses and claimed Juul is still ok to use. Yes its better then cigarettes. But not by alot. Your still sucking down carcinogenic.
To claim its safe because its not as bad as a cig is like saying "I used to drink a 12 pack of beer then drive, now I only drink 8 beers then drive! It's much safer!" Or its like playing russian roulette, but instead of one of 6 chambers being blank, 2 are instead. Still very much dangerous.
The interviewed workers who praise Juul still, they still never talk about the fact that kids still vape now. They don't seem to mention it still is hurtful to anyone, especially teens. Mind you we still haven't seen the long term effects of vapping fully.
If you manage to stick around to the end of the series, you will see those who spoke (but did not appear on camera) really rip into Juul. My review already has some people downvoting it buts thats ok, it goes to show blind people will vap no matter what because they truly think a product like 10% less bad for you is somehow a great end goal to get away from cigs.
It started off as an interesting documentary
orzeszek-9867014 October 2023
First 2 episodes were very good.
But then the whole documentary turned into idiots blaming juul for their ignorance.
Teens saying literally: we didn't know Juul was addictive, we didn't know juul contained nicotine.
Parents who do not parwnt their kids saying: we didn't know what was e-cigarette, we didn't know what juul was.
And finally: Juul had to be stopped from destroying our kids future.
This is not a documentary. What this series shows is how ambivalent and unaware parents are. And how easy it is for those idiots to blame others for their own mistakes.
I had to stop watching ot at 4th episode.
But then the whole documentary turned into idiots blaming juul for their ignorance.
Teens saying literally: we didn't know Juul was addictive, we didn't know juul contained nicotine.
Parents who do not parwnt their kids saying: we didn't know what was e-cigarette, we didn't know what juul was.
And finally: Juul had to be stopped from destroying our kids future.
This is not a documentary. What this series shows is how ambivalent and unaware parents are. And how easy it is for those idiots to blame others for their own mistakes.
I had to stop watching ot at 4th episode.
Didn't really get anything out of it sorry
amberspacey13 October 2023
It's a classic capitalism tale where original founders with good intentions start a company with the hope of changing the world for good but then money hungry CEOs with deep pockets take over and prioritise quick marketing at the expense of consumers.
I'll admit that maybe the reason I didn't like this documentary could be because I'm not the target audience but I'm sure it didn't need to be 4 episodes long and a 90 minute doc would've been much more engaging. I think it's an important narrative to tell but the documentary didn't inform me of anything new or give me any new perspectives so I felt a bit let down on that front.
They repeated so much information especially in the final 2 episodes that, for me, it started to feel too repetitive and simple. By the 4th episode it felt dragged out with minutes of interview clips just repeating what the audience already knows.
I also couldn't help but feel that by the end of the final episode, I had just spent about 2 hours watching a really longer advert for Juul.
I'll admit that maybe the reason I didn't like this documentary could be because I'm not the target audience but I'm sure it didn't need to be 4 episodes long and a 90 minute doc would've been much more engaging. I think it's an important narrative to tell but the documentary didn't inform me of anything new or give me any new perspectives so I felt a bit let down on that front.
They repeated so much information especially in the final 2 episodes that, for me, it started to feel too repetitive and simple. By the 4th episode it felt dragged out with minutes of interview clips just repeating what the audience already knows.
I also couldn't help but feel that by the end of the final episode, I had just spent about 2 hours watching a really longer advert for Juul.
What A Waste of Space
helenahandbasket-9373417 October 2023
Who in the world keeps funding these supposed 'creatives' passion projects that have absolutely no point to make yet the potential is astronomical? Maybe I need to start filming docuseries because I certainly couldn't do any worse and apparently there's vast sums of money to be made.
The marketing for JUUL initially was insipid- like they were marketing the new iPhone? Sorry but Gen Z has the attention span on a fruit fly- your marketing should have focused on Xers and millennials trying to quit smoking with money to spend. You have no control over what moronic teens do, maybe some parental supervision might be in order, and stop trying to be their friends?
I refused to use a JUUL- the marketing was ridiculous, the juices were horrendous, and I went to a local smoke shop, found a Novo Smok and never smoked a single cigarette again. I'm not naive enough to think that there's no risk inherent with vape use, but you'll never convince me that it's worse. The insane hearings of Congress were so obviously guided by big tobacco lobbying, knowing their time has finally come. Then you get these stupid teens making themselves such obvious targets for attention, (sorry but the MsWeenz? She's at least 25, how in the world is she being portrayed as a teen? Wut?) with the most obnoxiously stupid parents with zero clue and not even remotely curious to research WHAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE DOING?
I'm sorry but 45-year old Taylor Lorenz needs to stop being added to these shows- she's the antithesis of anything remotely cool and/or knowledgeable regarding the culture and youth. I've never cheered harder for a lawsuit to be successful regarding her case against her outright lying and defamation of people. Go away Taylor, nobody likes you.
The marketing for JUUL initially was insipid- like they were marketing the new iPhone? Sorry but Gen Z has the attention span on a fruit fly- your marketing should have focused on Xers and millennials trying to quit smoking with money to spend. You have no control over what moronic teens do, maybe some parental supervision might be in order, and stop trying to be their friends?
I refused to use a JUUL- the marketing was ridiculous, the juices were horrendous, and I went to a local smoke shop, found a Novo Smok and never smoked a single cigarette again. I'm not naive enough to think that there's no risk inherent with vape use, but you'll never convince me that it's worse. The insane hearings of Congress were so obviously guided by big tobacco lobbying, knowing their time has finally come. Then you get these stupid teens making themselves such obvious targets for attention, (sorry but the MsWeenz? She's at least 25, how in the world is she being portrayed as a teen? Wut?) with the most obnoxiously stupid parents with zero clue and not even remotely curious to research WHAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE DOING?
I'm sorry but 45-year old Taylor Lorenz needs to stop being added to these shows- she's the antithesis of anything remotely cool and/or knowledgeable regarding the culture and youth. I've never cheered harder for a lawsuit to be successful regarding her case against her outright lying and defamation of people. Go away Taylor, nobody likes you.
As usual very bias by Netflix
mikepilips12 October 2023
This documentary is, as usual, very biased by Netflix. Leftist ideas permeate everything they produce, so I guess this is the new norm now.
The documentary doesn't present the whole truth. The product was revolutionary and aided many, as vaping is much less harmful than smoking. However, this aspect seems to have been overlooked in the documentary. Unfortunately, in marketing, it's challenging to make a product appeal solely to a specific group; it will either appeal to everyone or no one. So, for me at least, Juul isn't to blame for the fact that kids found the product appealing. Kids have always emulated adults, often adopting their bad habits.
The only conclusion I can draw is that this documentary highlights just how detrimental the USA government can be. The hypocrisy is evident, and the lies are pervasive. Nothing appears trustworthy. Yet, as always, they siphon off billions from the private sector in one way or another. Thank you, USA government!
The documentary doesn't present the whole truth. The product was revolutionary and aided many, as vaping is much less harmful than smoking. However, this aspect seems to have been overlooked in the documentary. Unfortunately, in marketing, it's challenging to make a product appeal solely to a specific group; it will either appeal to everyone or no one. So, for me at least, Juul isn't to blame for the fact that kids found the product appealing. Kids have always emulated adults, often adopting their bad habits.
The only conclusion I can draw is that this documentary highlights just how detrimental the USA government can be. The hypocrisy is evident, and the lies are pervasive. Nothing appears trustworthy. Yet, as always, they siphon off billions from the private sector in one way or another. Thank you, USA government!
The real take-away
OneAnjel18 October 2023
As someone who smoked since the age of 13, quit with the patch, got hooked on the gum and still occasionally smokes cigarettes, has a law degree and once dabbled in marketing I may have a more bird's-eye perspective than Juul apparently did. Just because it was marketed incorrectly and kids raising themselves with little or no authentic supervision got hooked doesn't mean the product itself was bad. I really question the quality of the legal team that allowed Juul to be blamed when cigarettes and conventional NRT are still sold and still easily get into the hands of minors. Hopefully, they had a good marketing team that knows when one product fails you just repackage it.
Juul should have had a legal team overseeing every aspect of their creating and marketing, which Apple - their big inspiration - has at every turn. They could have foreseen that vaping would eventually fall under age limits (and should have been presumed as such). They would have been warned that social media influencers' main audience are teen agers. Ultimately, they might have discovered that nicotine actually causes brain degradation and that the combustion associated with conventional cigarettes is not the only concern (still big tabacco's best kept secret).
During a time I had quit all nicotine and I was struggling with snacking and gaining weight, I was watching this film (can't recall the name) where a rich guy who owns a ballet team asks their tutor "So do they bring a salad for lunch or how do they stay so thin?" And the tutor replies smuggly, "They smoke!" Fed up with my extra 40 lbs, I went out and bought cigs. It did help but they no longer sold the worlds best cigarette - Nat Sherman - so I went back to the gum. The nicotine manufactures know that it's the hardest addiction to quit.
Gum was routinely used by college kids long before vapping was a thing but nic gum manufactures have not suffered, from what I can tell even tho they are the ones who started claiming it helps with studying and keeping weight off.
The big take-away here is that, yes, the creative team made a lot of mistakes but our culture is now trying to blame products instead of people. Its the Big Brother people in the 70s worried could happen if we keep trying to make the government responsibly for our welfare.
New cars now have technology that tells the driver when something is close - beeping frantically as if common sense is being replaced. But I promise, those same manufactures are going to eventually be blamed when the technology drivers come to rely on fails and someone dies.
The point is, there's always a law suit waiting to happen and if you pick the right legal team and the right jury, you are guaranteed an award. In the legal realm it's called The Money Grab
As a member of the legal world and someone who has studied nutrition extensively, I know that what's harming American citizens the most urgently is processed packages foods and fast foods and that they are the ones who should be wrapped up in law suits to relieve our health care system from spending billions of tax payer dollars annually from propping up "life style disease" like obesity and diabetes. But no one wants to challenge that industry because of the deep pockets. When a film like Fat Sick & Nearly Dead comes out the processed food industry responds with 3 films "proving" how safe processed food is.
The real take-away here is that we are all at the mercy of the squeaky wheels including parents who failed at the front end and now want someone responsible at the back end. It's the difference between common sense and the unreasonable passing of the buck we see today.
Please don't keep voting these l i b e r a l s back into office. Let's rebuild a nation of smart people who don't pretend to think everything for sale is safe and that those who make things are responsible for your misuse of them.
Juul should have had a legal team overseeing every aspect of their creating and marketing, which Apple - their big inspiration - has at every turn. They could have foreseen that vaping would eventually fall under age limits (and should have been presumed as such). They would have been warned that social media influencers' main audience are teen agers. Ultimately, they might have discovered that nicotine actually causes brain degradation and that the combustion associated with conventional cigarettes is not the only concern (still big tabacco's best kept secret).
During a time I had quit all nicotine and I was struggling with snacking and gaining weight, I was watching this film (can't recall the name) where a rich guy who owns a ballet team asks their tutor "So do they bring a salad for lunch or how do they stay so thin?" And the tutor replies smuggly, "They smoke!" Fed up with my extra 40 lbs, I went out and bought cigs. It did help but they no longer sold the worlds best cigarette - Nat Sherman - so I went back to the gum. The nicotine manufactures know that it's the hardest addiction to quit.
Gum was routinely used by college kids long before vapping was a thing but nic gum manufactures have not suffered, from what I can tell even tho they are the ones who started claiming it helps with studying and keeping weight off.
The big take-away here is that, yes, the creative team made a lot of mistakes but our culture is now trying to blame products instead of people. Its the Big Brother people in the 70s worried could happen if we keep trying to make the government responsibly for our welfare.
New cars now have technology that tells the driver when something is close - beeping frantically as if common sense is being replaced. But I promise, those same manufactures are going to eventually be blamed when the technology drivers come to rely on fails and someone dies.
The point is, there's always a law suit waiting to happen and if you pick the right legal team and the right jury, you are guaranteed an award. In the legal realm it's called The Money Grab
As a member of the legal world and someone who has studied nutrition extensively, I know that what's harming American citizens the most urgently is processed packages foods and fast foods and that they are the ones who should be wrapped up in law suits to relieve our health care system from spending billions of tax payer dollars annually from propping up "life style disease" like obesity and diabetes. But no one wants to challenge that industry because of the deep pockets. When a film like Fat Sick & Nearly Dead comes out the processed food industry responds with 3 films "proving" how safe processed food is.
The real take-away here is that we are all at the mercy of the squeaky wheels including parents who failed at the front end and now want someone responsible at the back end. It's the difference between common sense and the unreasonable passing of the buck we see today.
Please don't keep voting these l i b e r a l s back into office. Let's rebuild a nation of smart people who don't pretend to think everything for sale is safe and that those who make things are responsible for your misuse of them.
Vaping helped me quit cigarettes
Terrorformer19 October 2023
It's true I switched to vaping almost 9 years ago and I never smoked another cigarette since then. I also quit vaping around 3 years ago and haven't hit the vape once since then. It's possible I would still be smoking today if it weren't for vaping.
Having said that.. I never even heard of JUUL till probably a year before I quit vaping... in this documentary they act like they were some innovators or something. I remember hundreds of different pods, tanks, mods, you name it, on the market long before.
This whole documentary just felt kinda try-hard. Like sure they made a ton of money and it was super successful. But to act like they actually did something mind blowing or innovative as far as vaping is concerned is pretty ridiculous.
I know the score is super low. But honestly the biggest problem this documentary has is the fact that it's insanely too long. They could've easily made this an 80 minute movie instead. Felt like a huge waste of time and sorta putting these dudes up on a pedestal.
Having said that.. I never even heard of JUUL till probably a year before I quit vaping... in this documentary they act like they were some innovators or something. I remember hundreds of different pods, tanks, mods, you name it, on the market long before.
This whole documentary just felt kinda try-hard. Like sure they made a ton of money and it was super successful. But to act like they actually did something mind blowing or innovative as far as vaping is concerned is pretty ridiculous.
I know the score is super low. But honestly the biggest problem this documentary has is the fact that it's insanely too long. They could've easily made this an 80 minute movie instead. Felt like a huge waste of time and sorta putting these dudes up on a pedestal.
How not to conduct business?
mdcollinsbarracuda26 October 2023
As someone in the business world (well, I have a business degree but actually I'm in Tech now), I see this film as a cautionary tale to be shown in Business college. They did everything wrong. When the first home computer was created in someone's garage, they were breaking new ground; there were no real laws or rules; no one foresaw any lawsuits other than making sure the over-heated apparatus didn't cause a fire in the end-user's living-room. When something is brand new, the only rules are applied to any portion of the thing that resembles products already on the market and the most urgent (if not obvious) step in getting ready for that first prototype is to find out if any lawsuits have arisen surrounding anything remotely resembling your components or marketing ideas. Juul failed on both accounts.
It's not clear what this docuwhine is about other than a cautionary tale. In business school, we are repeatedly told about how not to get in trouble by researching every step yet there are endless examples of creators who had large teams of people on their projects yet failed at the most elementary steps.
It's kind of like planning a wedding, in a way: Everyone will tell you to diy but I can assure you that is a certain way to fail hugely by leaving out important things you can't possibly understand until that moment where you want to cry and pull your hair out. There are reasons we have lawyers, marketing experts and wedding planners: because they will stop us from falling on our faces.
I agree with other reviews that say it could have been summed up in less time. I would have liked to hear more about their actual facts and less blah blah about -you know- the whining.
It's not clear what this docuwhine is about other than a cautionary tale. In business school, we are repeatedly told about how not to get in trouble by researching every step yet there are endless examples of creators who had large teams of people on their projects yet failed at the most elementary steps.
It's kind of like planning a wedding, in a way: Everyone will tell you to diy but I can assure you that is a certain way to fail hugely by leaving out important things you can't possibly understand until that moment where you want to cry and pull your hair out. There are reasons we have lawyers, marketing experts and wedding planners: because they will stop us from falling on our faces.
I agree with other reviews that say it could have been summed up in less time. I would have liked to hear more about their actual facts and less blah blah about -you know- the whining.
Weak sauce
calvarez317 October 2023
As with most netflix documentaries, this is a 4 episode series stretched from what could have successfully been covered in 2 episodes. It also reads like a giant advertisement for how cool and altruistic the juul employees were in their work. It seems like a lot of these tech start up effective altruism stories end the same. It would have been nice to see something with a bit more balance. Or just shorten it and make it what it is. You could probably watch the first 2 episodes and get all you need to know from this. I guess Netflix is just stretching for content. Getting a little sick of these Netflix documentaries that tease a payoff that never comes.
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