Does sex sell in the marijuana industry?

A recent article we published titled “The Ethical Shopping Standard for Cannabis Users” has lots of comments and some interesting discussions about what ethical cannabis users should be looking for in 2022 such as packaging, processing, carbon footprint, energy use, growing techniques such as hydroponics, etc. In One comment asked whether consumers should support brands that use female cannabis influencers who strip to their underwear or less to sell their products.

What is interesting is the ethics of buying or endorsing a brand that endorses female cannabis influencers in their underwear. Let’s go back a little before we look at this social media born phenomenon.

Cannabis.net has published several articles explaining why exploiting women and their bodies to get more “hearts” or “likes” for a post is wrong and out of date. Our basic retort has always been, “Be a great marijuana influencer yourself, why do you have to get naked?” The article “Why Breasts and Bongs Must Be Eliminated from the Cannabis Industry” has received many positive voices from the cannabis industry regarding the hard work that cannabis pioneers are doing, such as fighting the “good old boys” network Ganja girls in underwear who break through glass ceilings and sell bongs are bringing the feminine movement in cannabis back to the outdated marketing thinking of the 1970s.

If it doesn’t work, why are brands and young women doing it? Does sex sell in the marijuana industry? The sexually exploitative ads of the 1970s and 80s were an attempt by automakers, beer companies, and Big Tabacco to target male consumers between the ages of 18 and 35. Do men between 18 and 35 who buy cannabis like the fact that women strip down to their underwear and advertise additional products and brands of cannabis? Dan Bilzerian’s cannabis brand Ignite built a social media dynasty in the early cannabis years by promoting his brand with countless beautiful women in bikinis or underwear. Its marketing, while captivating male viewers’ attention, did not result in sales success as Ignite lost so much money that Bilzerian withdrew it from the marijuana market.

Defend the pugs and bongs

When given the opportunity to speak to cannabis influencers who do this type of job, the general reaction revolves around a positive body image, I can do what I want, I work hard to look that way, and I have that Right to make money from my body, social media created this opportunity for a sideline, don’t follow if you don’t like it, give everyone their own, etc.

While comments on this type of post certainly follow an age demographic, they are not 100% topic related. In general, if you are over 35 years old you will find the half-naked marketing ploy to be tasteless, cheap, and cheesy. When you’re under 35 you tend to be more open to the idea and sympathize with the influencers. Not a shocking reveal based on Generation Z, X, and Millennials. Much depends on how you grew up, what was considered acceptable and what wasn’t, and what social media platforms were dominated in your teenage years. Remember, Snap was originally created for sexting to send a private picture that would go away a few moments after viewing it.

As for ethical cannabis users who want to support brands that are doing what’s right for the environment, getting right through inclusive hiring practices, getting right through fair compensation, and getting right through non-exploitative marketing, do ganja girls qualify in their underwear? on an ethical scale? The answer, as the consumer decides which brands to support, is yes. The consumer is free to come up with any number of reasons to support brands, from being environmentally friendly to supporting your city’s Little League program. The consumer can put together a list of important factors when making a purchase decision, maybe the environment and the carbon footprint are one thing, maybe the other, how he markets his brand and what kind of advertising he uses publicly.

Are easily happy women selling cannabis products and additional brands a good thing for the cannabis industry? No. As the cannabis industry struggles for federal legalization and mainstream adoption, influencer marketing for breasts and bongs must go away in the same way that it is no longer an integral part of auto, tobacco, motorcycle, and beer advertising other industries that have grown into multi-billion dollar pillars in America. Bikini-wearing female cannabis tokens diminish the power of the cannabis plant by cheapening the message of healing medicine and hindering the advancement of women who work in the cannabis industry and keep their clothes as part of their jobs in the cannabis industry. This type of advertising harms legalization as it presents the plant in a “sexy, soft-porn” environment that is not good for changing voters in Conservative states and Central America. It also humiliates women in general and plays with misogynist and archaic advertising models.

Remember, history cannot repeat itself, but it rhymes. Brands that use scantily clad women to market their products will eventually face an ethical backlash from consumers. Ignite brands have pumped millions of dollars into the “sexy, bikini-clad fantasy cannabis lifestyle” and burned themselves. If Ignite is a harbinger of other cannabis brands, be very careful in your influencer marketing and be clear that there should be no underwear or topless shots to promote a cannabis brand.

A workaround that some female influencers try is to wear sexy but well-dressed clothes, advertise various cannabis products, and pay for access. In these new setups, the boundaries of what influences and what should peddle are blurring. If your influencer is a soft core star who does cannabis advertising on the side, or a cannabis influencer who also has an adult website, is it side hustle?

Ultimately, taking off your clothes to get a higher social media engagement rate is just a cheap, low rent to advertise any product. Big auto, tobacco and alcohol eventually got the message from consumers that exploitation of the female body is wrong. The cannabis industry brands that have many female users and women in cannabis company C-suites will also learn this lesson.

CANNABIS INFLUENCERS TAKING OFF YOUR CLOTHES READ MORE ..

WHY BOOBS AND BONGS MUST BE DELETED FROM THE CANNABIS ROOM!

OR..

WHY DAN BILZERIAN ABOUT THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY IS WRONG!