Aladdin and its Mysterious Manufacturer

Last December, 2FIRSTS launched an investigation on the problematic e-liquid circulating in southeastern Asia that was believed to contain diacetyl, according to some industry insiders who leaked the leads. After the sample was sent to the laboratory, a batch of products with the brand name “Aladdin” on its package was tested to have three times the amount of the lung-disease-causing essence as the maximum level as the national standard allowed.

Given the result, 2FIRSTS contacted the brand company for confirmation of the authenticity of the batch of products purchased by reporters in Malaysia. Yet more striking truths were emerging one after another.

The Region's Best-Seller with Camouflage

The packaging box of the Aladdin Enjoy 9000 Puff product purchased by 2FIRSTS does not display any place of origin indicating a specific sales license number, which raises suspicions of non-compliance, violating the regulations outlined in Article 7 of the "Implementation Rules for Electronic Cigarette Packaging" under the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Electronic Cigarettes," which stipulates that the packaging of exported electronic cigarette products should comply with the relevant requirements of the destination country or region and indicate the license number of the tobacco monopoly production enterprise.

The absence of this key information renders the product non-compliant with regulatory requirements. Lacking information publicized official site, 2FIRST finds its Facebook public page, on which there are new-arrival promotions and community campaigns. The basic information however is still absent, only a portal to an instant chat between the page runner was provided,

After sending a greeting message, 2FIRSTS managed to get a customer service WhatsApp account, as the buyers “can consult any product-related quality issues with the staff member.”

As a staff member declined the request for official website information of Aladdin, 2FIRST then asked to make a claim on the product quality issue. The Customer Service then referred the 2FIRST to another person named Alex Kon., which was 

After briefing the worrying chemical findings during the last investigation, 2FIRSTS ask the favor of confirmation of the authenticity of the product, followed by the full laboratory report as well as the published story were also sent. There is no further response from the other side.

The dead end was posed ahead of getting an answer directly from the concerned company. 2FIRSTS decided to confirm the source of the liquid. Despite being well-disguised in the cyber world, 2FIRSTS still managed to find a that is suspected to be the manufacturer of the questioned product.

On the website “Made in China”, a platform to help merchants and retailers worldwide to find matchable manufacturers in China to commission for their planned manufacturing, 2FIRSTS spotted a supplier claiming to be the OEM of the Aladdin Pro. However, what they are There is another category of product, named “OLDSCWOOL”, with the iconic feeding-bottle shape that is strikingly similar to Aladdin’s best-seller in Malaysia. The seller even used the terms “Aladdin PRO”, “Enjoy” and “9000 puffs” as SEO keywords to make the item more searchable.

Based in Shenzhen, China, the company is named “Blongang” with a Hong Kong contact number disclosed to be a communication portal for business collaboration. The spokesperson, who was reached out by 2FIRSTS  as a potential client, refused to answer the inquiry directly, dodging the question “Are you the manufacturer of Aladdin” by addressing that they are a “manufacturer making the products for the top vaping brand” instead.

2FIRSTS tried to contact them for further confirmation but in vain.

Aladdin's Curving Product Catalog

Aladdin once received wide recognition for its colorful Pod Mod products first introduced in 2020, yet the following successors failed to make a similar splash, until another star product was put on the shelf in early 2023. That is the Aladdin PRO Enjoy 9000 Puffs Yakurt.

 
Both its creamy flavor and inviting toy-like packaging design will face in regulated markets like those in European countries or in the US, in which PMTA. Yet in Malaysia, where the relevant regulation is relatively lenient, the products sold fast and well. There were YouTuber influencers volunteering to upload unboxing videos to gain traffic - not for the brand, but for themselves, since the certain product was so beloved and popular at the time among vapers who would like to try something new.

The viral can be vital for marketing. During the in-field purchase in Kuala Lumpur for investigation, merchants and retailers told 2FIRSTS that although the trend comes and goes quickly, when it is at Its peak, customers were “crazy” about the Yakurt flavor of the product. And it is when the rumors reach 2FIRSTS that many Chinese manufacturers producing e-liquid will illegally add diacetyl to magnify the creamy and buttery flavor.

And More Loopholes to Take Advantage of

Besides the uncertain disguised manufacture, 2FIRSTS during the investigation also found that Shenzhen Augvape Technology Co. registered a trademark called “Enjoy” after the brand named Aladdin, which can hardly be told any difference from the well-known one if not seeing it closely.

In the industry, the manufacturer usually registers several trademarks for use by their customers, which are usually companies that own nothing but an idea about “selling vapes to make money”. On these occasions, the manufacturer will come up with its own brand library for the customer to select, and the brand will be given to the customer to use.

For the manufacturers, such practice is more conducive to the depth of binding with the customer, and it only earns OEM fees. But there are other cases, in which the customer has its brand and the vision of the product, in this case, the factory will be entrusted to help with trademark registration or to complete the trademark registration themselves.

There are also factories and brands that may not be aware of the importance of the brand in the early stages, so they don't bother to register their trademarks. When the product performs well or even goes viral, unscrupulous businessmen will emerge and try to grab the trademark. Once the registration is successful, the original brands and factories will not be able to use the trademark, and they will be forced to change their names.

If the manufacturer is duplicating the same formula as the questionable Aladdin Pro Enjoy to make more counterfeit products, there will be more problematic e-liquid circulating in the market to do harm to the vapers. How to monitor the distribution and whereabouts of this batch of problematic e-liquid becomes the issue to be discussed here.

And furthermore, deeply integrating brands, products, and manufacturers, establishing a reliable traceability mechanism, and allowing sellers in the industry to be deterred from irresponsible practice by a "signature" in the process of pursuing profits, is a more fundamental guarantee for the health of electronic cigarette users.

Despite all the above worrying issues involved, it is alarming that Aladdin Pro, as a brand, joined the just-concluded Total Product Expo in Las Vegas with a booth to introduce the full catalog of its products, including the concerned ENJOY 9000 puffs, to boost the global sale of it.

2FIRSTS will continuedly to update the investigation on the quality issue of the product.