There’s an infamous marketing parable, which has many versions, that goes something like this: A failing dog-food company decided to create a very expensive national marketing campaign for its flagship brand of dog food. To boost the dog food’s miniscule sales, marketing executives poured all their money, resources, research, and work power into this new advertising campaign. They’d done their due diligence. They renamed and rebranded the dog food. They market tested with great success everything from the new name and packaging to the television, billboards, magazines, radio, and national newspapers advertising. The marketing campaign launched flawlessly across the nation. But the dog food sales did not improve. The problem was not with the marketing but rather the product. Dogs did not like the food. As Stephen Denny, author of Killing Giants, wrote, “If dogs don’t like your dog food, the packaging doesn’t matter.”

Advertising for cannabis products may not be the same as advertising for dog food, but the parable does offer up a lot of questions about how, when, and where cannabis advertising is heading in Illinois and how commonplace can cannabis advertising become. The Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA) already has advertising provisions for licensed businesses in Illinois, as well as new amendments set for next legislative session. According to the CRTA, “‘Advertise’ means to engage in promotional activities including, but not limited to: newspaper, radio, Internet and electronic media, and television advertising; the distribution of fliers and circulars; billboard advertising; and the display of window and interior signs. ‘Advertise’ does not mean exterior signage displaying only the name of the licensed cannabis business establishment.”

Below are the proposed amendments passing through the next legislative session. The full text of the CRTA section about advertising and promotions for licensed businesses is at the end of this article. Two of the more interesting amendments about advertising to the CRTA includes carve outs for “Internet-capable electronic device” for cannabis businesses and advertising in newspapers.

The first amendment “Provides that specified prohibitions on cannabis business establishments advertising cannabis or cannabis-infused products under specified circumstances do not apply if the cannabis business establishment is advertising via marketing directed toward an application on an Internet-capable electronic device and the application (1) is limited to installation and use on an Internet-capable electronic device by an individual who is 21 years of age or older and (2) includes a permanent mechanism to opt out of using or installing the application.”

The other amendment “Provides that specified provisions prohibiting advertisement of cannabis or cannabis-infused products do not apply to newspapers. Provides that, except for educational messages, cannabis business establishments shall not advertise in a newspaper if more than 30% of the newspaper’s readership is reasonably expected to be under the age of 21.”

Another amendment to the CRTA includes health-warning recommendations. The synopsis of the amendment states, “The Department of Public Health shall make recommendations to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on appropriate health warnings for dispensaries and advertising, which may apply to all cannabis products, including item-type specific labeling or warning requirements, regulate the facility where cannabis-infused products are made, regulate cannabis-infused products as provided in subsection (e) of Section 55-5, and facilitate the Adult Use Cannabis Health Advisory Committee.”

Currently, cultivators are not legally able to advertise but dispensaries are, even though most of the cultivators and dispensaries in Illinois are integrated. Dispensary adverting is already appearing on public, academic, and other forums, including this one. Another example includes Verilife’s sponsorship with the American Hockey League champions, the Chicago Wolves. PharmaCann, the parent company of Verilife, now has Verilife dispensary ads on display at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The sponsorship is the first-of-its-kind agreement between a cannabis company and a Chicago sports team. The Verilife ad has been placed on the jumbotron, scoreboard, digital banners, dashboards, LED screens, and televisions in concourses and suites. The partnership also includes a charitable component benefiting one of the Chicago Wolves Charities, Facing Forward to End Homelessness, a Chicago nonprofit organization dedicated to ending homelessness in the Windy City.

The following is the full CRTA text section about advertising and promotions for Illinois businesses.

Sec. 55-20. Advertising and promotions.

    (a) No cannabis business establishment nor any other person or entity shall engage in advertising that contains any statement or illustration that:

        (1) is false or misleading;

        (2) promotes overconsumption of cannabis or cannabis products;

        (3) depicts the actual consumption of cannabis or cannabis products;

        (4) depicts a person under 21 years of age consuming cannabis;

        (5) makes any health, medicinal, or therapeutic claims about cannabis or cannabis-infused products;

        (6) includes the image of a cannabis leaf or bud; or

        (7) includes any image designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals, or children, or any other likeness to images, characters, or phrases that is designed in any manner to be appealing to or encourage consumption by persons under 21 years of age.

    (b) No cannabis business establishment nor any other person or entity shall place or maintain, or cause to be placed or maintained, an advertisement of cannabis or a cannabis-infused product in any form or through any medium:

        (1) within 1,000 feet of the perimeter of school grounds, a playground, a recreation center or facility, a child care center, a public park or public library, or a game arcade to which admission is not restricted to persons 21 years of age or older;

        (2) on or in a public transit vehicle or public transit shelter;

        (3) on or in publicly owned or publicly operated property; or

        (4) that contains information that:

            (A) is false or misleading;

            (B) promotes excessive consumption;

            (C) depicts a person under 21 years of age consuming cannabis;

            (D) includes the image of a cannabis leaf; or

            (E) includes any image designed or likely to appeal to minors, including cartoons, toys, animals, or children, or any other likeness to images, characters, or phrases that are popularly used to advertise to children, or any imitation of candy packaging or labeling, or that promotes consumption of cannabis.

    (c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to an educational message.

    (d) Sales promotions. No cannabis business establishment nor any other person or entity may encourage the sale of cannabis or cannabis products by giving away cannabis or cannabis products, by conducting games or competitions related to the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products, or by providing promotional materials or activities of a manner or type that would be appealing to children.

The Illinois House is schedule to start its next legislative session January 4. For more Illinois cannabis industry news, visit here.

To learn about cannabis-friendly events in Illinois, visit here.

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