Italy's Top Court Upholds €6 Million Fine Over BAT glo Device Advertising
Italy's Council of State has rejected British American Tobacco Italia's appeal against a €6 million fine for misleading advertising of its glo Hyper X2 and glo Hyper Air heated-tobacco devices, in a ruling consumer groups say sets a benchmark for the whole heated-tobacco and new nicotine market.
The consumer protection association Udicon announced the decision on Oct. 21, saying the council's sixth section had dismissed BAT Italia's appeal and upheld the sanction imposed by Italy's competition and market authority, AGCM. A €1 million fine on Amazon, also part of the same case, stands as well; together the two penalties total €7 million, per AGCM's original decision.
AGCM found that BAT had promoted the two glo devices while denying, omitting or downplaying two core pieces of information: that using the devices means consuming tobacco and nicotine, and that their sale to minors is prohibited. BAT marketed the hardware as a design object — portable, customizable, styled for billboards and cinema ads — even though the devices can only be used with dedicated tobacco sticks that deliver nicotine during inhalation.
The court's reasoning turns on the relationship between sector regulation and general consumer law. Meeting the requirements of the tobacco-specific framework does not exempt a company from the duty of diligence under the consumer code, the judgment stated. On Amazon's product pages, the ruling noted the devices are used exclusively with dedicated sticks and inevitably deliver nicotine; BAT, as the supplier, had the right to edit those pages and therefore bears responsibility for the omissions.
Enforcement officials also weighed the commercial model into the size of the penalty: selling the devices at low prices to pull consumption of the accompanying sticks. BAT was ordered to bear the full costs of the proceedings.
Martina Donini, Udicon's national president, said the ruling puts a firm marker on misleading advertising for the entire heated-tobacco and novel nicotine market. Ads on billboards and in cinemas, she said, are the ones most likely to reach young people, and consumers must be told product risks truthfully, not only in line with sector rules. Udicon said it will continue monitoring the marketing of new nicotine products, which it said are often treated by consumers as a harmless alternative.
[Reference]
- Vapesee (original report) — https://vapesee.com/info/31990
- Udicon press release (Oct. 21, 2026) — https://www.udicon.org/2026/10/21/udicon-dal-consiglio-di-stato-stop-definitivo-alla-pubblicita-ingannevole-di-bat-per-i-dispositivi-glo/
- AGCM press release (PS12524) — https://www.agcm.it/media/comunicati-stampa/2024/2/PS12524-