RICHMOND, Va. – E-cigarettes are going where no cigarette has gone in years—the airwaves. Tobacco firms are showcasing the electronic cigarettes in TV spots, USA Today reports. Using actors like Jenny McCarthy, the ads evoke an era when smoking was hot and people lit up everywhere. VUSE by R.J. Reynolds has a robust campaign that includes print and TV advertisements.

With the top three U.S. tobacco firms entering the e-cig market, sales are booming. In 2011, around 6% of all U.S. adults and 21% of adult smokers said they had used an e-cig in 2011, twice the 2010 rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An increased profile for the devices has more localities and states considering restrictions on usage and sale of electronic cigarettes. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) might flex its muscle to regulate the products under tobacco.

“No one knows what will come out. The FDA has played its cards close to the vest,” said Georgetown University pulmonologist Nathan Cobb. He views the devices as nicotine replacement therapy, similar to the lozenges, gum and patches available to smokers.

E-cig manufacturers are predicting some federal intervention, such as not selling the devices to minors. But on the whole, those firms point out that electronic cigarettes are not the real thing. “It's different from a regular cigarette. ... It should be category-specific,” said David Sylvia, spokesman for Altria, which launched MarkTen e-cig last month in Indiana. Altria won’t say whether TV spots will be in MarkTen’s future.

Tobacco firms welcome a “balanced” agency approach to e-cig regulations. “Relevant regulation allows the business to have more certainty,” said Sylvia.