Celebrities high on marijuana businesses
Here’s how Stephen Colbert introduced Whoopi Goldberg on CBS’s Late Show last week: “My first guest is an actor, author, talk show host and has her own line of premium pot.”
Well, who doesn’t these days?
Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and Tommy Chong are among the usual suspects who are pushing their own lines of specialty marijuana products.
“It’s almost gotten into the fad scenario at this point,” Harvard Business School marketing professor John Quelch tells USA TODAY Sports, “where celebrities almost feel obligated to attach themselves to the cause.”
An athlete becomes a legal marijuana grower and part of an emerging debate
Whoopi & Maya is a medical marijuana company that focuses on cannabis-infused salves, balms and edibles designed to relieve menstrual pain, according to the company’s website.
Goldberg told Colbert how she got into the cannabis business: “A friend of mine said to me, ‘Hey, Snoop Dogg is doing this and Willie is doing this.’ ”
No one had to say which Willie she was talking about. “Obviously,” Quelch says, ”his credentials in this regard were extremely strong.”
Here are just some of the bold-faced names with strong cred in the budding legal marijuana game:
Snoop Dogg: His branded line of marijuana, Leafs by Snoop, includes flavors such as Lemon Pie, Purple Bush and Northern Lights. “Let’s medicate, elevate and put it in the air,” as the rapper puts it on his website. A company in Colorado owns the business; Snoop Dogg can’t, as he is not a state resident. Lawyers for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ parent company are questioning a pending trademark for the leaf logo of Leafs by Snoop, apparently because of the potential for confusion with the Maple Leafs’ logo — though the overlap of consumers might consist of Wayne and Garth.
Willie Nelson: His product line is called Willie’s Reserve — tagline: “My stash is your stash” — and is grown and sold by local businesses in Washington and Colorado. “I feel like I bought so much, it’s time to start selling it back,” Nelson told Rolling Stone. The company website says that pot enthusiasts flocked to Nelson’s shows for decades as his band traveled across the country: “They happily shared the bounty from their home gardens and local communities. Willie happily returned the favor. Now Willie’s Reserve pays tribute to a tradition of sharing, caring and toking.” Hey, it’s always on his mind.
Melissa Etheridge: The rock star sells cannabis-infused wine tinctures (in conjunction with a medical marijuana dispensary) to California residents on her website. “You feel a little buzzed from the alcohol and then get a delicious full-body buzz,” she told CBS. Next up from Etheridge Farms will be balms for aching muscles and arthritis. The breast cancer survivor says she began using marijuana medicinally when she was diagnosed in 2004. “I believe anybody who smokes cannabis is using it medicinally, whether they consider it so or not,” she told Billboard. “If it's my means of relaxing and unplugging and de-stressing at the end of the day, who's to say that's not good medicine?”
Wiz Khalifa: The rapper once put out an album called Rolling Papers – upcoming is Rolling Papers 2: The Weed Album – and these days he is appearing with Snoop Dogg on the High Road Tour. “We’re going to have a really dope experience,” Khalifa told reporters. So it was a small surprise when he partnered with a Colorado cannabis company to market marijuana products including a strain he calls Khalifa Kush, also known as KK. That caused some confusion when Khalifa included those initials in a tweet to Kanye West, who misunderstood it as a reference to his wife, Kim Kardashian. “KK is weed fool” Khalifa shot back.
Tommy Chong: He and Cheech Marin formed the comedy duo who made a series of stoner movies beginning in the late 1970s. (Sample line from Up in Smoke: “Is that a joint, man? That there looks like a quarter-pounder.”) Chong and his son Paris are promoting a line of marijuana products under the brand Chong’s Choice. “We’re a distribution company,” Chong told Forbes. “We’ve found the best growers, tapped into their supply source, and used my name and celebrity to promote their product.” Chong also told reporter Lee Seymour he’s working on a strain that will go out and wash your car. “Honestly, I’m not sure if he’s kidding,” Seymour wrote. “He’s pretty high.”
Quelch, co-author of a case study on marketing marijuana, says to expect more celebrity endorsers.
“There is an endless variety of strains and flavors and mixes for perceived aficionados to attach their brand names to,” he says. “Whether or not any of these will break through to become market leaders is, in my mind, quite unlikely.”
That, he says, is because marketing a product that can’t be moved across state lines is difficult, as is achieving a consistency of quality when growing plants in volume. Quelch thinks branding opportunities are better for edibles and drinkables than for high-potency pot. The paradox: “Where the branding opportunity is greatest, the celebrity reputational benefit is least.”