Blip Gives Us Another Reason to Toss the Vape
Smoking is bad for you; we've heard it a million times. Still, we've never managed to fully shake the habit: From Instagram pages dedicated to celebrities smoking to Lana Del Rey singing about her vape, smoking is still a part of the cultural zeitgeist.
Whether it's Elf Bars, Zyn, or good old cigarettes, Gen Z'ers are hooked — and they're paying the price. But Blip — purveyor of nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) like gum and lozenges — makes quitting feel cool, ushering young people towards a smoke and tobacco-free life without shaming or guilting them.
Founded by model Josephine Lee (AKA Princess Gollum), branding pro Alyson Lord, and heads of Starface Julie Schott and Brian Bordainick, the one-year-old brand is the complete opposite of your local drugstore's sterile smoking cessation section. Blip's branding is fun and colorful. Its social media presence is unhinged (as the kids would say).
And its line of flavored toothpicks (a nicotine-free distraction for idle hands and mouths) have won over everyone from Doja Cat to Chloe Cherry to designer Kim Shui, who sent the product down the runway at her latest New York Fashion Week show.
Blip's latest project, a bold campaign shot by nightlife icon Cobrasnake, doubles down on the notion that tossing your Juul doesn't have to be a drag.
"It's basically a rave in a CVS," Lee says of the images. "We took our friends in a party bus... We spent a good hour there before we were politely asked to leave.
"Blip is all about adding to your quit instead of taking away — injecting fun back into something as daunting as quitting your nicotine device."
Blip isn't the only brand making quitting cool. Over the past year, several other smoking cessation brands — including Jones, Ripple, and Füm — have generated buzz with their stylish-looking solutions for hopeful former smokers.
"We now have more competition, which we’re cool with," Lee says. "We love to see other brands making their way into the NRT space. Not everyone will quit nicotine in the same way, so having more options means more people will hopefully stop."
Today, Blip launches at 3,500 CVS locations, a move that will bring its products to even more customers. According to Lee, the brand has more up its sleeve for the next year. "I can see us reimagining NRTs to be something people wear with pride rather than hiding them," she hints. "Instead of the typical discreet and concealable designs, we’re thinking of creating wearable NRTs that look cool."
