It almost happened: Cannabis nearly made its way to primetime television with Acreage Holdings’ Super Bowl ad about medical marijuana. Featuring testimonies from patients who have seen the plant’s healing benefits, this one minute-long ad sets a somber mood of, “Oh wow, it’s ridiculous that this medicine is illegal.”
While the ad’s intent is to jar up heartfelt emotions about cannabis prohibition, it ultimately falls flat by seeming too vanilla and exclusive. The commercial discusses the injustices of cannabis, but never shows any messaging or imagery that acknowledges the truest injustices of cannabis (such as the War on Drugs and the demographics of people who have suffered most for companies like Acreage Holdings to be able to exist in the first place).
Ultimately, CBS decided to say, “No thank you” to this multimillion dollar commercial, so in that sense, the war rages on.
