Branding Cannabis in Canada: Challenges for the Cannabis Act’s Promotion Restrictions

摘要

Background: This article examines how Canadian cannabis companies promoted theirnew brands after legalization in late-2018.Analysis: Nearly 4,000 items were collected from the websites and social media of 20cannabis brands and triangulated with insight from the trade press. The promotionalpractices are contextualized in two areas: the history of tobacco advertising in Canada,as legal precedent for the Cannabis Act, and theories of branding.Conclusion and implications: Brands are navigating the Cannabis Act’s promotion restrictionsby embodying what it means to be a brand in the twenty-first-century mediaenvironment. This reveals an incompatibility between regulations and contemporarymarketing.