"New Beer" - beer commercial spoof by Marijuana Policy Project

[FullMelt]

Now that we have legal cannabis in 2 states for anyone over 21.

Been following MPP on youtube for awhile, they have a lot great videos.

 

[Smoking Gun]

Not a fan at all. It does not make the Cannabis community look good at all. In fact I feel it makes us look like a bunch of goofs. That really should have been a much more serious commercial. If we are trying to show that enlightened people and people making good choices use Cannabis, lets not show goofy pics of people partying and fooling around to show that. Honestly this commercial is disappointing.

 

[Seamaiden]

The goofy people they were showing were the ones associated with booze, SG, not cannabis. The Smiling Happy People are the ones using cannabis. :D

 

[Smoking Gun]

The goofy people they were showing were the ones associated with booze, SG, not cannabis. The Smiling Happy People are the ones using cannabis. :D

I understood that. But the whole commercial was pretty goofy, especially the tone of the narrator. I know it was meant to be a spoof of other commercials out there, but I don't think that is what our community needs. We do not need to be viewed as people who are always goofy or spoofing things. Many of us have tried to create change with facts and science. I think that is the route we need to stay on. We need to show the public that Cannabis users are amongst the best and brightest of society and that the dangers of Cannabis have been overly exaggerated by interested parties.

 

[Seamaiden]

Ah, see, I'm used to television advertising like that out here, hokey as hell because it's homemade. But then, to me, coming from LA, most all local ads seem hokey and homemade to me. I think they were doing it as straight as they could.

I also fear that we might begin to take ourselves a bit too seriously, I'm willing to allow for some humor to be injected.

 

[Smoking Gun]

Ah, see, I'm used to television advertising like that out here, hokey as hell because it's homemade. But then, to me, coming from LA, most all local ads seem hokey and homemade to me. I think they were doing it as straight as they could.

I also fear that we might begin to take ourselves a bit too seriously, I'm willing to allow for some humor to be injected.

You are absolutely right, the low budget makes it seems much hokier than it probably is. That does make the whole thing seem more goofy than it was intended to be.

While I agree we cannot take ourselves too seriously, I still feel we, as a community, need to make outsiders realize we are serious. We are serious about the lies that have been forced upon us and our kids; we are serious about Cannabis being effective and healthy medicine; we are serious about the science behind what we have been saying for decades. I think once all of this has been established we can step back and make fun of ourselves. I just feel as though most non Cannabis users just think we are all lazy, silly, uneducated people. We should be touting the fact that many of us are scientists, doctors and generally intelligent people. And none of this means humor cannot be used, we just have to understand where and when to use it.

 

[Seamaiden]

SG, we are in 100% agreement. That's why I personally make it a point to never look like the hippie mama I really am at heart. There are times when you'd confuse me for an attorney, or a librarian or some such as that. Most folks who have known me for a while but don't know me intimately are astonished to learn that I smoke weed, completely astonished. Many have read me in the past as being an uptight lesbian, which I don't get, but hey, it is what it is. Seriously, I am NO Janet Reno! But I guess sometimes I come across as uptight.

This brings me to instances where appearance means a world of difference in and to the outside world--getting involved in local politics, especially anything having to do with cannabis. My husband and I were pretty much the only people who looked like we didn't just roll out of bed. He actually looks like a cop when he's shaved bald and wearing the aviators and a sport jacket or polo shirt. Everyone else? Looked like pot heads for the most part, each and every one. And it's not that I don't love these people and deeply appreciate that they could AT LEAST be bothered to get out of bed and show up for a boring Tuesday morning board of supervisors meeting! But I know that they were never really taken seriously by the supes, they were looked down upon, sneered at, made fun of and generally denigrated, due in very large part to their appearance.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's the fucking truth. Just look at how many men here are about 'fat chicks' for another excellent example of being judged by one's appearance.

 

[Smoking Gun]

SG, we are in 100% agreement. That's why I personally make it a point to never look like the hippie mama I really am at heart. There are times when you'd confuse me for an attorney, or a librarian or some such as that. Most folks who have known me for a while but don't know me intimately are astonished to learn that I smoke weed, completely astonished. Many have read me in the past as being an uptight lesbian, which I don't get, but hey, it is what it is. Seriously, I am NO Janet Reno! But I guess sometimes I come across as uptight.

This brings me to instances where appearance means a world of difference in and to the outside world--getting involved in local politics, especially anything having to do with cannabis. My husband and I were pretty much the only people who looked like we didn't just roll out of bed. He actually looks like a cop when he's shaved bald and wearing the aviators and a sport jacket or polo shirt. Everyone else? Looked like pot heads for the most part, each and every one. And it's not that I don't love these people and deeply appreciate that they could AT LEAST be bothered to get out of bed and show up for a boring Tuesday morning board of supervisors meeting! But I know that they were never really taken seriously by the supes, they were looked down upon, sneered at, made fun of and generally denigrated, due in very large part to their appearance.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's the fucking truth. Just look at how many men here are about 'fat chicks' for another excellent example of being judged by one's appearance.

Sea, you and I are absolutely on the same page here. For many years I was a long haired, pot smoking hippy, who looked like a pot smoking hippy. Then I looked in the mirror one day. While I cannot say people didn't take me serious, I knew I could command more respect by simply cutting my hair, keeping my beard clean and wearing more straight-laced clothes. These days I rarely leave my house without wearing a sport coat and button down shirt, even though at heart I am still the long haired hippy I always was. This has made a very distinct change in how people interact with me; a change for the better.

Part of why I had the long hair for so many years was because I felt it was unreasonable and unfair to judge me by my appearances. Just because I had long hair and my clothes were a bit shabby did not mean I was not smarter, harder working and more capable than the next person in line; but I did not always get to prove it because of that appearance. And this is what us in the Cannabis community are trying to do, get the average person to see past the outward appearance. Well, it is easier to change our outward appearance and then get people to listen to us than it would be to get people to listen to us without a change in the outward appearance. So we, as a community, need to tout our scientists, doctors, engineers and farmers; the ones amongst us who really effect the greater world around us. It may not be a fact I like, but it is one I understand. You only get to make a first impression once.

After watching the commercial again and stepping away from it for a bit, I think I know what really bugs me about the commercial. Its the comparison to beer that irks me. Why do we feel the need to compare Cannabis to beer? I still enjoy my beer and smoke Cannabis. They have nothing to do with one another. It was not a comparison to some other product that lifted alcohol prohibition. Why do we think that will be a successful tactic for lifting Cannabis prohibition? I personally feel Cannabis has its own merits that allow it to stand on its own. If the facts are presented intelligently and effectively then people will listen and take note.

Another thing that really got under my skin, and does constantly is the idea that Cannabis is just marijuana. Cannabis is hemp and seeds too, all of which can and should be used in our daily lives. A big part of lifting Cannabis prohibition is the right to grow industrial hemp for clothes, rope, building materials and many, many other uses. The economic benefit of allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp are innumerable. However most of these legalization organizations only focus on smokable Cannabis, marijuana (a name I am not to fond of, and don't actually like using). We must look at the bigger picture and get all Cannabis legalized.

 

[Seamaiden]

I feel that they made that comparison because it's the most apt way to get to the general non-toking public. As I've been trying to get the patient advocacy group director to understand when he's splitting hairs between dispensaries and how 'good' they are or are not versus collective cultivation and his stance that they are, by definition, good--that is quite simply not the perception of the general public, they don't see the difference.

So, by equating the overall level of harmfulness of cannabis (marijuana) to beer, they're normalizing it, making it more accessible. I personally would prefer it be compared to wine, but that's quibbling and again, doesn't really address the issue of how the general public can be 'mainstreamed' into cannabis.

California passed a Hemp Farming Bill. It's VERY restrictive. Those who wish to grow it must have been in (ag) business for a minimum number of years, and they must be farming a minimum of 1,000 acres. I find that almost too restrictive--if I wanted a bunch of hemp growing nearby. But I don't, because I grow outside and am upcountry from the valley.

Just keep in mind that they people we're trying to appeal to are completely unfamiliar, we've got to keep a bigger picture in mind. And take them along the path using baby steps. :)