While Cannabis advertising continues to be a touchy subject, a Massachusetts marijuana company found a creative way to market their dispensary.
Polar Park, home to the minor league Worcester Red Sox, agreed to an advertising deal with Southbridge-based dispensary Green Meadows. Because Cannabis advertising rules dictate that 85 percent of the audience for a marijuana-related advertisement must be 21 or older, Green Meadows would not be able to advertise in the ballpark. But, the dispensary teamed up with the WooSox on a three-year deal to place co-branded banners in the area outside the park, which complies with advertising guidelines.
According to Green Meadows, “It was very apparent that [the WooSox] as an organization were looking to lean more into the Cannabis space while still doing it compliantly. Minor League Baseball, the parent company, is not going to touch Cannabis, so we had to come up with a pretty creative way of how to do it.”
Cannabis Advertising Changes
With any luck, we could soon see Cannabis companies advertising their wares on television and radio stations as well. Last month, the House Appropriations Committee passed a measure that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from blocking broadcasters from running Cannabis advertisements in legal pot states.
TV and radio are subject to federal law (the FCC), which continues to treat Cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic. And so broadcasters are forced to forgo billions in advertising dollars due to the federal government’s outdated, prohibitionist stance. However, the new appropriations bill offers hope. It has already passed its first hurdle – next, it would need to be approved by the House and the Senate, at which point it would need to be renewed each year.
Sacha Baron Cohen Drops Lawsuit
And in other positive pot advertising news, actor Sacha Baron Cohen – who brought a $9 million lawsuit against a Massachusetts Cannabis dispensary for using his likeness on a billboard without permission last year – has dropped his suit against Solar Therapeutics.
The billboard featured Cohen as Borat giving a thumbs-up with the words, “It’s Nice!” implying the actor supported Solar Therapeutics and Cannabis. This, it turns out, is not the case, as the actor claims never to have tried marijuana and does not support its use.
While the billboard was removed three days after Solar Therapeutics received Cohen’s cease-and-desist letter, the actor filed the lawsuit to protect his image. Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed and the case has been dropped.
