When Canopy Growth introduced its CBD drink brand, Quatreau, to the US market last month, the Canadian cannabis producer also announced its newest brand ambassador—American astrologer Susan Miller.
Ambassadors and celebrity partnerships are familiar terrain for Canopy Growth, already known for its ties with Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.
Although Miller is not a household name for all, she is one of astrology’s more mainstream personalities, and her celebrity fans include pop star Katy Perry and actress Kirsten Dunst.
Unfortunately, not everyone welcomed Canopy Growth’s association with Miller. Some on social media were puzzled by the choice, questioning the move to align unscientific astrology with cannabidiol’s effects.
Miller is not the first brand ambassador to raise eyebrows, which could be considered mild criticism compared to others. In 2019, Vancounver, British Columbia-based cannabis producer Invictus Group cut short its five-year contract with rockstar Gene Simmons after only 17 months.
The partnership had been criticized because Simmons, known as the co-founder of the rock band KISS, was famous for being both anti-drug and anti-alcohol. Simmons claimed he had changed his mind about cannabis in recent years.
When WeedMD extraction subsidiary CX Industries announced its now-shelved plans to partner with Dan Bilzerian’s Ignite company in 2019, there was significant social media backlash. The Instagram-friendly poker player was also famous for making degrading comments about women.
Last month in Hamilton, Ontario, the Toke Cannabis store canceled a guest budtender spot. Marc Emery, a cannabis activist who served a prison sentence in the US for selling seeds, has also been accused in Vice Magazine of creating a degrading work culture for young women who worked with him pre-legalization.
Even after the event was canceled, some local consumers on social media declared they would never shop at the store. In response, Emery said that he never “harmed anyone or sexually aggressed anyone.”
Cannabis marketers are challenged to find partners that are provocative enough to cut through the noise without straying from their target market’s core values.
To find out how to approach the vetting process, Marijuana Business Daily spoke with some of the industry’s top brand strategists.
“And for brands, it’s important to vet these folks … to make sure that they are either aligned with their mission and stance, but also to make sure that if they’re wanting to stay away from that type of communication or language, that they’re properly vetted out beforehand,” said Josefine Nowitz, co-founder of Boston-based digital marketing agency Cannabis Creative.
“It might be useful to have a conversation with the celebrity and maybe put stuff in a contract that says, ‘If you behave badly, we get to distance ourselves from you, fire you and tell the world that we don’t like you anymore,’” added cannabis advisor and consultant Andrew DeAngelo.
Overall, the consensus is to vet, check, and cover your company with a contract, but even this good advice has not steered some away from the pitfalls of bad partnerships.
