Here’s a production you have to admire telling a story that some won’t – the idea that cannabis is normal. The director is Spike Jonze. The client is MedMen and the agency is Mekanism. The film stars Grey’s Anatomy actor, Jesse Williams. MedMen’s aim is to promote its belief that legalised and regulated cannabis creates a safer and healthier world.
The story is told in frozen moment vignettes, beginning with a museum-like diorama showing George Washington examining his hemp crop. Others point to the harshness of penalties for cannabis use in the US, past anti-cannabis propaganda and the idea that it has been used to “inspire the creators, the makers and the disrupters” while “everyday good people” use it to manage their anxiety and pain.
“The symbol of counter-culture is, at long last, just culture,” the voiceover concludes. “It’s normal again. Here’s to the new normal.”
The commercial’s co-writers, Jonze and Williams, wanted to the film to be as authentic as possible, so the majority of the cast and crew have a real-life connection to cannabis.
The ad will run on connected TV networks, such as Dish, Bravo, ImDB, Discover, EW and Food Network. It will be supported in out-of-home and national magazines, including GQ, Rollling Stoen and Us Weekly, Sirius XM, native integrations with Complex, podcasts and terrestrial radio, digital, pre-roll and programmatic ads. The ad is also running in cinemas in California, Nevada and Michigan.
Williams will appear on the cover of Ember, volume 4, MedMen’s in-house magazine, which will be free with purchase at every MedMen store and distributed at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide, select boutiques, hotels and restaurants.
In addition to the commercial, Jonze is creating a short documentary with filmmaker, Molly Schiot, that was shot on set and explores the themes of the short film in more detail.
Adam Bierman, chief executive officer and co-founder of MedMen, commented, “Cannabis is part of our country’s history. We’ve moved away from the propaganda of the past and into a world where cannabis is the new normal. We want this commercial to educate and embolden in equal measures. This is our opportunity to make a statement on a national stage.”
