General Mills Inc., the Girl Scouts of the USA and Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. are among several companies that are fighting back to make sure their brands aren’t being used to sell an addictive drug or make it appealing to children.  The companies have sent cease-and-desist letters to makers of the liquid nicotine demanding they stop using the brands and may take further legal action if necessary.

The actions highlight the debate that the array of flavors available for the battery-powered devices is used to appeal to children.There are about 1,500 e-liquid makers in the U.S. and countless others abroad selling vials of nicotine from traditional tobacco to cherry cola on the Internet and in retail stores, using brand names like Thin Mint or Fireball to conjure up a very specific flavor in the buyer’s mind.  The advertisements often feature photos of the popular treats.

“Using the Thin Mint name — which is synonymous with Girl Scouts and everything we do to enrich the lives of girls — to market e-cigarettes to youth is deceitful and shameless,” Girl Scouts spokeswoman Kelly Parisi said in a statement.

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