With the New York Times boldly proclaiming “Repeal Prohibition, Again” in its Sunday edition, it is safe to say that advocating the legalization of marijuana is no longer for hippies, liberals and hip-hop fans. As entrepreneurs, politicians, pundits, farmers, distributers and retailers scramble to come up with a plan for a new legitimate market category, it is also time to consider how marijuana will be marketed now that the street cred of buying & smoking pot recedes.
Traditionally, marijuana marketing has only been done mainstream through counterculture music that crossed over. From Bob Marley to Snoop Dogg to Sublime, thousands of songs and music videos have used pot as an anti-establishment badge. At the same time, mainstream music has continued to ignore marijuana in content, but singers and entertainers have been using it in secret for years. With social media exposing all of our private moments, some singers, like Justin Bieber, have chosen to apologize to their fans for making “bad choices” when photos or videos are exposed of them partaking in smoking marijuana. Others, like Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake, have openly told journalists like Anderson Cooper and magazines like Vanity Fair that they work better when they’re smoking pot.
When marijuana is legalized in this country, what will the reputational risks be for promoting its use? Who will be the first celebrity & athletes to endorse marijuana and paraphernalia brands? How would society feel if it was their favorite morning mommy Kelly Ripa or their go-to health advisor Dr. Oz? What if Kathie Lee & Hoda were smoking a vaporizer at 9AM on the Today show instead of drinking a goblet of wine?
Here are some mainstream celebrities and experts who have already promoted marijuana & paraphernalia:
- Actor Ryan Gosling has been caught in the act (on the red carpet, no less) but has yet to make any comments on his thoughts on marijuana.
- Although she’s pretty quiet about her private life, Jennifer Aniston admitted to Rolling Stones magazine that she had a “casual relationship with the drug.”
- Even with suffering from drug and alcohol addiction in the past, Morgan Freedman said he’ll “never give up the ganja.”