Veteran food brand Cheeba Chews teamed up with creative agency Piggyback to create a spoof ad that takes a satirical approach to appropriate cannabis advertising. Cheeba Chews manages to list phony disease ad-pharmaceutical style in this very real commercial for infused gummy candy.
The commercial follows a tracksuit-wearing Randy Falcon as he explains that Cheeba Chews offers “joint lozenges,” which in the commercial world are relief from smoking joints. The ad made it through strict rules against making health claims in ads.
Falcon cites that Cheeba Chews can help relieve phony conditions like air guitar backs and bicycle seat butts. Advertisements for edible cannabis are a parody of conundrums that elegantly color the lines of the law.
“We have a lot of restrictions on how we can position cannabis in the regulated market,” said Eric Leslie, CMO of Cheeba Chews. Adweek. “So with this product, we had to get really creative to make sure consumers understood the benefits without making explicit claims.”
This isn’t the brand’s first foray into comedic cannabis advertising. In 2021, Cheeba Chews is working with the funniest chef on TikTok, Nicole from Dope Kitchen. As a brand that has been operating since 2009, Cheeba Chews is no stranger to the challenges of marketing successful and legal cannabis products.
Cannabis ad challenge
Cannabis companies adhere to strict advertising and marketing standards, often to the detriment of their brands. Of the 23 states with adult-use cannabis, the majority currently regulate cannabis advertising. These rules focus on limiting how minors interact with brands.
Some states allow radio, print, and internet advertising as long as the audience (or majority of the audience) is over 21 years of age. Others restrict weed companies from advertising in any or all of these media channels. Regulators have also limited or banned event sponsorship and location-based marketing campaigns.
As far as the content itself, the company is prohibited from targeting children, making claims about product safety, and offering prizes or gifts. Although research continues to support the idea that cannabis can be therapeutic, advertising cannot make any therapeutic claims. Ten states require product warnings in advertising, not to be confused with the small safety symbol on the packaging.
Solid cannabis parody
This Cheeba Chews ad brilliantly overcomes that obstacle while still featuring relevant product information. But it’s not the first cannabis company to fake pharmaceutical advertising.
In 2017, Briteside Cannabis released an ad that was almost too accurate, like a quiet-voiced person quickly reading side effects. Sure, one of them is “sensitivity to musical stupidity,” but based on the tone alone, it might as well be an allergy drug commercial.
Cheeba Chews parodies are better, perhaps because of their long history with the cannabis industry. Briteside plays on several stereotypes, prompting cannabis advocates and longtime consumers to roll their eyes.
In one of the scenes, a senior is dancing, claiming he does not know his daughter because he is too drunk. As the commercial closes, the main character laughs uncontrollably in front of a group of children. The two stoner tropes do nothing to normalize the crop. That’s probably why the parody of Cheeba Chews skipped this low-hanging fruit for humor that’s utterly ridiculous and preposterous.
Without making therapeutic claims, the commercial manages to share what the product is all about, get viewers to think about how it works, and even lightly touch on the endocannabinoid system. This is a testament to how far this industry has come, even though it has yet to be broadcast on national television.
After surviving for more than a decade and setting advertising standards in the process, Cheeba Chews may be the cannabis product worth buying. But don’t take this as medical advice, because as Randy Falcon says, “I’m not a doctor, but I often stub my toe.”
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