A new company aims to change the stigma around cannabis by allowing you to display it as a decoration.
Pot Plant is a new company that designs and sells fake cannabis plants to be used for decorations around the house or even at the office. The company was founded by Karina Faris and George Hernandez after Farris had the idea while working in the cannabis industry. Farris also mentioned cannabis oil helped her father as he went through treatment for skin cancer.
“I was growing my own plants then and everyone who would visit were impressed with the plants’ natural beauty,” Farris said. “I thought, if only more people could see the plant in its truest, most natural form, they would see cannabis in a different light.”
The company wants to use the plants to help start conversations and shift negative mindsets around the plant. Pot Plant’s founders believe having cannabis plants, even ones made of plastic and fabric, out in the open and visible can challenge those negative views.
“At its core, we’re trying to get people to see the plant for what it truly is. It’s just a plant. It’s nature. It shouldn’t be anything scary,” Farris said. “There’s been a war on drugs for years and years, and people are programmed to see this plant and think it’s a dirty thing. We’re working to reprogram what’s been told and what the narrative has been.”
The products come in a variety of sizes and “growth stages,” from the 10-inch “Clone” plant to the 36-inch “Mother” plant with prices ranging from $25 to $125. The plants are made using molds of real cannabis plants which make them look realistic. The company, which launched in September, has sold around 8,000 units with the desk-sized “Clone” being the top seller. The company said it also has wholesale clients, who are normally prop departments for television shows, and cannabis dispensaries and other related shops.
House plants have seen a massive boost in popularity recently, especially amongst Millennials and Gen Z. While blossoming even before the pandemic, the house plant community had steadily been growing through social media as more plant parents shared their plants and tips to others interested in the living home-décor. Pot Plant provides an opportunity for cannabis and plant lovers to display a cannabis plant for those who legally or easily grow their own cannabis plant. It’s also easier to display as it isn’t as pungent as a real plant.
Aimee Huff, an associate Marketing professor at the University of Oregon, believes Pot Plant shifts cannabis from something that is abstract, to something that is physical and tangible. She said the products can help with destigmatizing cannabis by showing the aspects of the cannabis plant and inviting people to see cannabis as the “aesthetic, natural botanical specimen” it is.
“It allows people to mentally categorize cannabis as something that can be beautiful and tasteful,” Huff said, “different from a novelty gag gift.”
Cannabis home-décor has long evolved from lava lamps and Bob Marley posters Seth Rogen recently partnered with a Montana-based artist Adam Field to create a line of pottery items for Rogen’s cannabis brand, Houseplant, which offers home goods in addition to cannabis products. The ceramic offerings feature an ashtray designed by Rogen and expanded on by Field, as well as a matching ceramic cup. The brand plans to eventually offer lamps, furniture and other decorative items.
Some people have gone so far as to make cannabis the theme of their wedding. The Cannabis Wedding Expo gives couples the opportunity to learn how to add cannabis to their special day, from small nods to cannabis like cannabis bouquets, to full service cannabis bars.
