As far as holiday traditions go, people have been giving weed to each other since long before the plant was legal across 40 U.S. states.
As likely as not, though, those particular gift exchanges have happened outside the confines of Thanksgiving dinners or white elephant parties. But in 2023, isn’t it time for this clandestine practice to leave the garage and formally join the festivities?
That’s the question asked—and answered—in a campaign from cannabis brand Vivid, whose Missouri-based parent company, Show-Me Organics, has dropped a specially designed gift box inspired by top-shelf alcohol.
To announce the offer, the brand and agency Bandits & Friends have created a yule log-centric video and vintage-style print ads. Both lean into classic Americana—artwork is an homage to Norman Rockwell paintings and classic beer advertisements—while advancing the thoroughly modern notion that cannabis can be an out-and-proud participant in the season.
“We’re trying to elevate cannabis onto the level of a fine bottle of scotch or whiskey,” Tony Billmeyer, the company’s chief marketing officer, told Adweek. “The whole idea is to bring it out into the open, put it with the rest of the wrapped presents, and start to make it feel more acceptable. We hope it will spark conversations.”
The ad copy notes that oversized bottles of booze are routinely part of the gift mix, so why not consider “a half-ounce of Missouri’s finest medical-grade flower” in a “regal, dark wood box that screams ‘completely appropriate holiday present inside.’”
Cheeky taglines for the full-page ads include: “What do you give the man who has it all? You give him the munchies,” and, “This year give her flowers. Dank, crunchy, terp-rich flowers.”
Consumers in Missouri can snag the limited-time product at select dispensaries when they buy four eighth-ounce jars of Vivid, with the promo intending to broaden the reach of a brand known as a cannaseur’s favorite.
