Smoking looks cool. It’s an unlucky reality given how bad cigarettes are to your health. Blame movies, blame promoting, blame James Dean, Margot Tenenbaum and Lily-Rose Depp, blame the Marlboro Man – regardless of the source, the image of the smoker as an elegant, louche, sexy figure is one we’ve never quite been capable of shake as a society. Quitting smoking, however, paints a less glamorous picture filled with beige nicotine patches and preachy PSAs. Can something be done to vary this perception? Princess Gollum, AKA Josephine Lee, is hoping so.

Blip is a latest brand on a mission to create a fresh perspective around quitting and provides nicotine substitute therapies a “cool” makeover. Launching with two flavours of gum and one lozenge, Blip hopes to take a few of the stigma away from quitting, with playful visuals, vibrant packaging and an in-built community support system which might be online initially before evolving into in-person meet-ups.

Lee was on set at a Starface photoshoot when the lightbulb moment for Blip got here. The model – who once had her head 3D-scanned for Dazed Beauty – was within the midst of attempting to quit smoking for what felt just like the thirtieth time, when she began talking to Starface founder Julie Schott about her struggles. “Quitting felt unattainable, even when my life trusted it,” she says. “The old approaches to quitting didn’t work for me in any respect, and I’ve found that to be such a standard experience.” Having already taken on taboos like pimples (Starface) and the morning-after pill (Julie), Schott and business partner Brian Bordainick recognised that this was their next frontier and, along with Lee and Alyson Lord, they got here up with Blip.

The timing couldn’t be more apt: we’re within the midst of a smoking revival. In 2020, The Recent York Times declared that “smoking is back” after cigarette sales increased for the primary time in 20 years. Cigarettes are popping up all over the place on-screen and celebrities are smoking again. The bio of an Instagram account dedicated to pictures of smokers (which has over 30k followers) reads: “Hot people keeping the art of smoking and being cool alive.” Meanwhile, memes call on us to reject the modernity of vapes and embrace the tradition of cigarettes. It’s a vibe shift that author Imogen West-Knights termed luxury fatalism: “the sensation that the whole lot is garbage, and that there isn’t a real recourse to vary that fact, so we must always all just go all in on whatever it’s that we enjoy about life.”

After all, the whole lot can be lots more garbage with lung cancer added into the combination, which is why you need to still strongly consider quitting. And with 18- to 35-year-olds making up half of the 30 million smokers within the US, it is smart that brands like Blip try to make the thought more palatable to young people. “From our daring design approach to using social platforms to create a supportive community, we’re enforcing the concept that it’s cool to be healthy, feel good, and achieve independence from nicotine,” as Lee says. Here, she and Lord tell us more concerning the brand.

You might be a former cigarette smoker and long-time vaper – what was your journey with quitting like before you tried Blip?

Josephine Lee: In 2021, I experienced my real first health scare. The one piece of recommendation I received from my doctor was to quit smoking if I haven’t already. That included vaping. Right then and there, I threw my vape within the trash can outside the office and got into my automobile. Before I could even start the engine, I used to be walking back to the rubbish to get it back. It was this moment – the considered digging through the trash only to retrieve my vape – that made me realise how strong of a hold this device had on me. That internal dialogue with myself was enough to make me walk back to my automobile without my vape in hand. But, I still felt overwhelmed by the anxiety and fear of not having it. Quitting felt unattainable, even when my life trusted it.

That is once I went into creative solution mode and yearned for something like Blip. I attempted to quit cold turkey like 13803716 times before. Most of my friends told me they switched back to cigarettes to quit vaping, which I wasn’t comfortable with – especially within the condition I used to be in physically. It wasn’t until I attempted adding NRTs + sessions with Dr Mark + friends as tools. Quitting to me was making a commitment to myself and the betterment of my health (physical and mental), however the undeniable fact that I didn’t need to do it alone, and had help from each people and product, was truly life-changing.

What was the gap available in the market that you simply desired to fill with Blip?

Alyson Lord: Smoking cessation products have remained largely unchanged since their inception. But, nicotine addiction continues to be prevalent and on the rise. Bringing in elements of community support and destigmatisation to the present nicotine substitute therapy market was pivotal, yet absent, in helping folks quit smoking and vaping.

We saw the chance to fulfill people where they were of their quitting journey. Blip meets the needs of today’s smokers and provides them with a latest blueprint to quit smoking that is concentrated on a built-in support network. By coupling community with FDA-approved NRT products, Blip concentrates on removing the stigma related to quitting to show a historically isolating experience into one price celebrating.

Josephine, as creative director you played an enormous role within the branding, design and content of the brand – what was your vision for it?

Josephine Lee: I envisioned Blip as the primary brand within the quitting space to be approachable and unique. I wanted the branding to feel like nostalgia in the long run, injected with other elements you wouldn’t normally see on this category, while still keeping it medicinal and tactical. The design needed to be daring, so we went neon – one in all my favourite color palettes ever. The goal is to at all times further connection and attraction to interrupt bad habits, and so by creating something that resonates with today’s generation of quitters, we’re making them feel empowered along the way in which.

One in every of the goals of the corporate is to destigmatise the industry of quitting resources – how do you desire to change that?

Josephine Lee: The quitting process could be an isolating experience that nobody really talks about. Family and friends don’t quite know how you can help, and the scary PSAs don’t necessarily resonate amongst real smokers and vapers. Somewhat little bit of encouragement and accountability goes a good distance for somebody who’s interested in quitting or is prepared to begin. Remember, you don’t need to do it alone in the event you don’t wish to!

A part of the brand is a built-in support network – are you able to tell us more about that?

Alyson Lord: Blip is evolving what cessation resources seem like by taking a well-rounded approach and specializing in one crucial element that’s been missing up until this point – human connection. We’re constructing this community each in person and online, which can begin through our website and social channels. Nevertheless, we plan to repeatedly evolve our support offerings to fulfill our community where they’re.

In the previous couple of years, smoking has been on the rise amongst young people. Why do you think that that is?

Josephine Lee: I believe various aspects are at play here. Modern social media algorithms push controversial content, and memes like [the modernity/tradition one] definitely fit the bill. And when vapes didn’t exist, the meme would just have been pipes and cigars. I don’t think anything latest is occurring, we just have newer smoking equipment. In case you keep something out for long enough, it may be trending again many years later. 

Why do cigarettes have such a permanent appeal?

Josephine Lee: It’s 2023 – cigarettes are considered vintage and computer cigs have taken over! They’re purposely designed to be highly addictive, and lots of have picked cigarettes back as much as quit vaping. It’s becoming an limitless loop, and Blip exists to assist break that cycle.

Join Dazed Club and be a part of our world! You get exclusive access to events, parties, festivals and our editors, in addition to a free subscription to Dazed for a 12 months. Join for £5/month today.