The Story Of The JUUL

Swoop Johnson7 years ago

If you weren’t born before the fall of the Berlin Wall or aren’t named Post Malone, puffing on a Juul is one of the only acceptable ways to practice nicotine addiction in the 21st century. I like sparking a Marb Red on the patio as much as the people on this site like fantasizing about the TFM Babe of the Day in the comments, but the luxury of blowing through a pack-and-a-half every day without petrifying your lungs or requiring the surgical removal of your jaw seems to be reserved for a select group of people.

To make up for this, college students are sucking Juuls like newborn calves on teats. Our communities run on vape. It’s an embarrassing truth, but a truth nonetheless. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. Your girlfriend’s mom did it on Moms Weekend. Everyone wants to hit the fucking Juul.

As a concept, Juul was co-founded in 2007 by James Monsees and Adam Bowen. I’d always assumed that Juul was the result of some stoned 17-year-old figuring out how to turn a USB flash drive into a vape back in 2016, but in reality the minds behind Juul have been at this for more than a decade. Monsees and Bowen dedicated their masters thesis, and their lives at the time, to finding the solution.

In the years leading up to the release of the Juul, they put a massive amount of time and resources into research. No one had been able to produce an e-cigarette that didn’t make you look like a human fog machine while still affording you the satisfaction that is found in few places other than the business end of a heater.

During their research, the men started up their own company called Ploom in 2010. Ploom released its first product, the Ploom Model One, shortly after. The Model One used tobacco filled pods and vaporized the tobacco like any other loose-leaf vaporizer. Ploom went on to develop a line of vaporizers and eventually renamed itself to Pax Labs. You might recognize Pax as the space age marijuana vaporizer that can put you on Pluto if you load it with the right bud.

Pax Labs was the parent company to Juul Labs when the first Juuls hit the market in 2015. The financial capital and the years of development had come together, and Monsees and Bowen had finally realized their dream. People started ditching cigs and lighters for Juuls and pods at mystifying rates. By the end of 2017, Juul was manufacturing 20 million pods per month, according to Business Insider. Juul Labs parted ways with Pax Labs around the same time, and they went on to top the e-cigarette market in the United States.

Juuls serve as study buddies, social magnets, stress relievers, sources of inspiration, and they won’t ruin your health or finances to the degree of most vices. If you could have sex with a Juul, I might never date again — not because I’m a fanboy, but because I appreciate convenience and having more than six inches of bed space to myself when I sleep. Monsees and Bowen ended up developing a product that is much more than just a healthier alternative to cigarettes..

[via JUUL, TechCrunch, CNBC, Business Insider]

Image via Wikimedia Commons