Marijuana ads mimic tobacco ads

A Prevention WINS coalition member recently sent me the photo below of a marijuana producer's billboard in Seattle.

It looks like marijuana businesses are using the same strategies tobacco and alcohol businesses use to attract consumers.

The Liquor Control Board provided marijuana businesses with information about how marijuana may be advertised.  Their online FAQ provides answers to a variety of questions.  Below are a few.

Online Advertising

May I have a website to promote my company? Are there any limitations on a company website?
Yes you may have a website to advertise your business. However, the law does not allow a business to use a website to sell marijuana/marijuana products. All recreational marijuana sales must take place at a licensed marijuana premises.

Can I use social media to promote my business?
Yes. Please use social media with caution and be mindful not to appeal to, or solicit, viewers under the age of 21. If possible, please restrict views to adults age 21 and older.

May I hire an online advertising company to promote my business through blog posts and other online options like videos?
Yes.

Am I able to produce a YouTube page with comedy commercials promoting my marijuana business?
Yes. Please use social media with caution and to be mindful not to appeal to, or solicit, viewers under the age of 21. If possible, please restrict views to adults age 21 and older.

Am I able to have a mascot in the YouTube commercial?
Yes, as long as the mascot is not a cartoon character or is appealing to children.
 

Traditional Advertising

May I set up a separate business to promote my marijuana retail store?
Yes. That would be allowed if the business is used to sell t-shirts, hats etc. Those items, however, could not be sold within your retail marijuana store.

May I advertise for cannabis on the radio and TV?
The law states that licensed marijuana producers, processors and retailers “may not advertise marijuana or marijuana-infused products in any form through any medium whatsoever within one-thousand feet of the perimeter of a school ground, playground, recreation center or facility, child care center, public park or library, or any game arcade admission to which is not restricted to persons aged twenty-one years or older.” The fine is $1,000 for each violation.

Although print media, such as newspapers, are often delivered to locations at or near schools, the LCB does not intend to enforce the 1,000’ buffer for newspaper advertising as long as the advertising does not violate other provisions of I-502.

Television and radio, of course, carry across state lines as well as places where children can see or hear. TV and radio are also regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. Licensees should consult with their attorney and media-buyer or other advertising sales representative to ensure cannabis/related advertisements are permissible.

May I advertise in non-cannabis magazines and publications?
Yes, as long as the publications in question are not marketed towards children or people under the age of 21.

May I cross promote my business with a neighboring business (items such as glasses, t-shirts, lighters etc.)?
Yes, and vice versa.

May I use direct mail to households and inserts delivered via the Seattle Times and other publications?
Yes. Inserts may not contain coupons.

Branded Merchandise

May I sell t-shirts with my company’s trade name and logo on them in my retail store?
A licensee is not permitted to sell t-shirts from their retail store or business website. A separate business is necessary to sell items beyond what is allowed under I-502.

Could a separate entity (separate LLC, operating close-by) sell branded merchandise?
Yes.

Marijuana advertising milestone

A new legal marijuana system milestone may have been reached last week.  Though medical marijuana businesses and products have been advertised locally for a while, last week a Seattle newspaper may have run the first ad for a recreational marijuana business licensed by the Liquor Control Board.

As the marijuana industry grows and matures, expect more advertising aimed at promoting and normalizing use of the drug.  A recent KPLU news story includes this quote from a marketing expert: "[Businesses are] going to try to go beyond their core quote-unquote 'stoner user' to expand and have it be acceptable at cocktail parties."

Alcohol ads reaching too many young people

From HealthDay:

Too many young Americans are watching television ads for beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks, a new study contends.

The number and frequency of such ads exceeds the industry's own voluntary standard, said researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Under that standard, which was adopted in 2003, alcohol companies agreed not to place any ads on TV programs when more than 30 percent of the audience was likely to be younger than 21.

If ads were curtailed to meet that standard, the "payoff in terms of reduced risk of underage drinking and harms related to it could be quite substantial," study author David Jernigan, director of the school's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, said in a Hopkins news release.

Add marijuana to the advertising mix
In Washington, marijuana advertising will soon be added to the mix.  Advertising for marijuana dispensaries already exists.  (When riding the bus last week, my teenager saw ads in the local paper being read by the person sitting next to her.)  While the new marijuana market rules recently adopted by the Liquor Control Board state that ads must not target children, they will none-the-less be exposed to ads.  Plus, there is little, if any, monitoring of electronic marketing, especially social media.

What can parents do?
When parents and their children see ads for alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco, talk about them.  SAMHSA provides some tips for talking to teens about what they see in the media.  Parents and their teenage children can discuss:

• What's the purpose of the ad?  Who created it and why?
• What words, images, or sounds are used to create the message?
• How does the message make you feel?
• What are the message makers trying to accomplish -- sell a product, promote a belief, etc.

Parents want a ban on marijuana advertising

In a national survey, 64% of Washington parents agreed that "marijuana sellers should not be allowed to advertise  . . . " on the Internet, in newspapers, in the yellow pages, in magazines, over social media, through smartphone apps, over the radio, on tv, and through most other common ways of promoting products.  In fact, a vast majority of parents think that marijuana advertising should be banned.

The Washington State Liquor Control Board's proposed rules for our state's new legal marijuana marketplace do not include a ban on marijuana advertising.  The rules place some restrictions on advertising, similar to restrictions on alcohol advertising.  However, they do not specifically address mass media advertising or marketing through smartphone apps, the Internet, and social media platforms.  They do not address celebrity endorsements and the sponsorship of events.  Yet to be publicly discussed is how advertising restrictions will be monitored and enforced.

Why ban marijuana advertising?

Companies that sell alcohol and tobacco have similar marketing strategies according to Dr. Ken Flegel, Senior Associate Editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal.   In a recent editorial in the Journal, Dr. Flegel makes the argument that like tobacco companies, the alcoholic beverage industry has recognized that a good way to increase profits is to target young female consumers – and this has left adolescent girls, who also see the ads, particularly vulnerable.  Dr. Flegel offers some insight into responsibility and potential strategies. Here is a link to the article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-usiness/industry-news/marketing/is-alcohol-advertising-harming-girls/article12461259/.

Dr. Flegel’s editorial provides another example of the importance of limiting, if not banning, marijuana advertising.  For years, the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth has tracked alcohol advertising and how youth continue to be targeted, despite alcohol industry promises not to.  Based on experiences with alcohol and tobacco advertising, Prevention WINS made suggestions to the Liquor Control Board about marijuana advertising:  

While we are pleased that some limits on advertising are proposed, we recommend a full ban on marijuana advertising. 

Myriad research shows that there is a connection between alcohol and tobacco advertising and youth consumption of alcohol and tobacco.  When looking at the link between advertising and underage drinking, the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth reports that exposure to alcohol advertising shapes attitudes and perceptions about alcohol use among adolescents.  These attitudes and perceptions predict their positive expectancies and intentions to drink.  A complete ban on alcohol advertising would be the most effective alcohol policy for reducing underage drinking. 

Despite the finding that a ban on alcohol advertising would likely be a best practice for reducing underage drinking, the reality is that alcohol advertising is not banned and regulations are weak.  Therefore, if the Board decides not to ban marijuana advertising we urge you to refer to tobacco advertising restrictions to guide marijuana advertising regulations.

The State of Washington is part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) that imposes significant prohibitions or restrictions on advertising, marketing and promotional programs or activities.  In addition to a general ban on direct and indirect targeting of minors in advertising and marketing of tobacco products, the MSA specifically:

• Bans cartoons and any drawing or other depiction of an object, person, animal creature or any similar caricature that comically exaggerates features, attributes human characteristics to animals, plants or other objects, or uses similar anthropomorphic technique or attributes unnatural or extra human abilities.
• Prohibits billboards and other outdoor advertising except for limited advertising where tobacco is sold.
• Bans payments for product placement of branded tobacco products in entertainment media.
• Bans distribution of brand name merchandise except in limited circumstances.
• Prohibits allowing third parties to use tobacco brand names.
• Bans lobbying against certain kinds of tobacco control legislation.
• Bans agreements between tobacco companies to suppress health-related research and product development.
• Bans material misrepresentations of fact regarding the health consequences of using tobacco products.  

Marijuana business websites should be prohibited from including advertising and marketing tools that are attractive to minors.  This includes advertising and marketing tools on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media platforms.  Widgets, videos, e-cards, and other electronic forms of advertising and marketing, especially those that may easily be cut-and-pasted or embedded in personal Internet and social media sites should also be prohibited.     

Though not included with the comments, below is a screenshot of a game included in a free iPhone app from a rum company.  Similar methods for marketing marijuana products should be banned.  

Additional comments about marijuana advertising are included in the letter to the Liquor Control Board.