MedMen is raising the bar and eyes towards their ‘New Normal’ with billboard advertisements

Dispensaries are turning towards traditional forms of advertisement to spark change in the way their product is viewed. 

MedMen, a leading dispensary in the Marijuana business, released a video on Feb. 24, 2018 titled ‘A New Normal’.

The short film by Spike Jonze is a quick dive into the history and politics of marijuana. 

The MedMen website states “The New Normal begins with a story that needed telling. The story of American cannabis. How something as common as corn was relegated to back alleys. The story of unjust punishment. But most of all, the story of redemption.” Ending with an encapsulation of MedMen’s goals, the video states, “the symbol of counter culture is at long last just culture. It’s normal again.” 

One way in which the company is making strides towards what they consider to be ‘A New Normal’ is their billboard advertisements. 

Headquartered in Culver City, Calif. these MedMen billboards have been popping up all over Westchester and surrounding neighborhoods. They feature the phrase ‘cannabis’ overlaying images of people doing activities ranging from riding motorcycles to lifting weights while holding a bag from their dispensary. These billboards are raising concerns among parents in the area.

Joan Becker, an elementary school teacher and resident in Playa Vista, Calif. felt a concerning sense of familiarity when she saw the billboards. 

“I don’t know what to think because I think of the young people who see that as a norm. It makes me think of back in the old days when they stopped allowing liquor or tobacco to be advertised because it was influencing young people too much,” said Becker. 

Tali Green, a 19-year-old student at the University of Southern California, gave her take on the future of legal marijuana and the impact it could have on the way people perceive and use marijuana. “In Europe, people start drinking when they’re like fourteen. They grow up used to alcohol so when they get to college or high school they don’t feel the need to abuse it. I feel like the same thing could happen to weed.” 

While the future of marijuana marketing remains undefined, it is certain that there will need to be regulations in place to monitor the advertising. 

**A video form of this piece can be found under the VISUAL WORK tab.