In an interesting turn of events, Weedmaps released an advertisement that showed the identity crisis of a person dressed as broccoli as many people associate the vegetable with cannabis due to regulations on cannabis ads in media. Even social media is no exception, and most businesses that deal with cannabis products use the emojis of broccoli or maple leaves while they are discussing cannabis products.
The marijuana technology company said that they have intentionally timed the release of the ad to coincide with the Super Bowl events. Interestingly, the ads for cannabis products were rejected at the events in 2019 while they regularly feature ads for alcohol products. Weedmaps ad comes with a satirical tone wherein the broccoli emoji is frustrated about people associating him with cannabis. The emoji feels that people should directly talk about cannabis and not use things like broccoli to discuss marijuana products on social media.
CEO of Weedmaps Chris Beals said that more than a quarter of the US has now legalized cannabis, and efforts are put into providing legal status for cannabis in several other states. In this state, the industry continues to face various hurdles when it comes to educating the customers about the products due to restrictions in the media regarding cannabis products.
Beals added that Super Bowl night is one of the best opportunities to advertise any product, and most often, we get to see ads related to sports betting and alcohol products that are regulated by the government. However, legalized cannabis still cannot be advertised on such platforms due to various restrictions, and this needs to be resolved to provide an equal opportunity for the cannabis businesses.
At this stage, the growth of the industry largely depends on how educated the customers are about cannabis products. The medical research that is done in this area also needs to be highlighted to show the positive benefits of using such products.