Japanese Cannabis and Smoking Senators
Plus: join our exclusive DIY PR event!
The Broccoli Report
Monday, May 9, 2022
Time to read: 4 minutes, 35 seconds. Contains 918 words.
Good morning!
Another week, lots more weed, and one big announcement.
On Friday, I’ll be catching up with colleagues who attended Hall of Flowers in Palm Springs this week—let me know in the comments if you’re looking forward to any particular insights in the recap coverage. We want to know what you want to know.
And when it comes to what you want to know, PR is close to the top of the list. Broccoli Report readers send us queries on everything from getting more press to deciding whether to hire an agency. We’ve heard your questions, so we’re bringing an expert with all the answers for our next ask me anything-styled Zoom sesh.
Monica Khemsurov co-founded Tetra in 2015, building the renowned accessory brand and e-comm platform with little outside investment and doing her own PR along the way. Monica—who also founded the design blog Sight Unseen—has a degree in journalism and media experience working at outlets like New York magazine and I.D. She’s taught courses on being your own publicist, and she’s ready to answer your questions about navigating the media landscape and increasing brand awareness. Just like our last AMA with fundraising expert Alison Gordon, this will be an opportunity for attendees to speak directly with Monica, getting one-on-one advice on their unique PR questions.
Mark your calendars for 11 am PST / 2 pm EST / 6 pm GMT on Thursday, May 26th, and start working on those PR questions. This event is free for Broccoli Report paid subscribers, with a paid ticket option for everyone else. Sign up for a ticket here! 🌸
Now, to the news!
One-Hitters: Cannabis News at a Glance
A hopeful update on WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been in Russian detention for more than two months after police allegedly found hash oil in her luggage. Last week, the U.S. State Department officially declared her to be "wrongfully detained," regardless of any violation of local laws. This designation means that they’ll be taking action to get her home. While “wrongfully detained” is different from a hostage classification, ESPN reports that a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations—one who has worked privately for years as an international hostage negotiator—agreed to work on Griner's case last week. Let’s hope that bringing in the powerbrokers gets her on a plane home soon.
The number of televised campaign ads for featuring politicians smoking cannabis has increased 100%, from one to two. Gary Chambers’ campaign ad in Louisiana for the U.S. Senate was an inarguably powerful visual and testament to the changing world of politics. Thomas McDermott, who is running to represent Indiana in the U.S. Senate, uses a smoke circle setting (that includes him) to highlight the variety of Indianans who believe in legalizing cannabis. While some industry headlines are asking whether this trend is more of a pandering crutch than a powerful pattern, I’m optimistic. If they’re putting this degree of creativity into ads progressing towards thoughtful legalization, they’re helping the cause. And it is worth noting that neither of these candidates are from so-called “blue” states, either, which feels like a hopeful development.
It’s exciting that DoorDash has partnered with cannabis retailer Superette to serve the Toronto weed scene, even if it is pick-up only. Canadian law only allows licensed cannabis companies to deliver to homes, so apps like DoorDash and UberEats can only be used to order goods for pick-up—for now.
Canadian readers: Please consider signing this federal petition ordering the expungement of records of Canadians with nonviolent cannabis convictions. If it hits 500 signatures by 4:29 pm EST May 19th, the Canadian House of Commons must respond, and as of this writing, they’re just 50 signatures from the goal.
Fun fact: Americans spent more on legal cannabis than they did at Starbucks last year.
Before you assume low engagement on Instagram means you’ve been shadowbanned, read Later’s free report on Instagram industry benchmarks. It assembles average performance metrics for 30 different industries, and—spoiler alert—engagement averages are down everywhere, especially for accounts with 100k+ followers.
Puffco’s marketing team has been busy. The high-tech vaporizer brand collaborated with glass artist Ryan Fitt again on the official trophies for this year’s Emerald Cup in the form of custom, ornate, hand-blown pieces. They also just announced the date for this year’s Puffcon—a consumption-friendly block party in Los Angeles where attendees must show their Peak or Peak Pro device to get in. It’ll go down on October 1st.
The Taima Cannabis Museum—a private museum located in Nasu, Japan, founded in 2001 by hemp rights advocate Junichi Takayasu—collaborated with Barcelona’s Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum on an exhibition about cannabis in Japanese culture. Cannabis Japonica leads visitors on a “fashionable and fascinating journey through Japan’s cultural ties with the cannabis plant.” The presentation will be on display In Barcelona through February 26th, 2023.
Advocacy-minded design studio HighlyHuman released a limited-edition weed-tastic shirt drop featuring fun designs by artists HighCalan and Yourmomlikesmymusic. Half of the proceeds will go to Marijuana Justice, a Richmond, Virginia-based advocacy group working to repeal cannabis prohibition.
Travel container company Cadence decided to embrace the cannabis lovers turning to their modular, airtight plastic “capsules” for herbal storage by introducing a pot leaf label to its roster of cute custom icons container labels.
I’m absolutely inspired by Ruby’s Doobies, a creative collection of functional accessories, including these shades with chain-link attachment to a roach clip.
Until next sesh,
Lauren Yoshiko