A Critical Analysis of Retail Cannabis Marketing and Youth

Quinton Miller, Public Relations Major, MDST 485, January 30th, 2021, Post #3 Type #3

Parents of you social media As untrustworthy in the likes of influences on the children. My mother, in fact, did not approve of the possible exposure to different products online. She would fear me ordering weapons, drugs and coming involved in various online communities. My online empoxy business was prevented from creating Facebook ads because it mentioned that knives could be molded out of epoxy for sale. It mentioned in the rejection statements that drugs and weapons were not allowed for paid promotion. Once I removed the items and wording, they reassessed the page and pushed my ads through. This personal experience provides insight to the adversity social media marketing has combat and it’s endeavor to reach new audiences.

Cannabis media groups use educated speakers to spread ideas to specific audience groups here’s an example of a featured guest for an event coming in June of 2021: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN21m-HLOMP/?igshid=jhua7d7nwcnc

The light shun by cannabis companies are reaching adolescence in states where retail cannabis is legal. This is casting an unsavory image on the objectives these these companies. Similar adversities were faced with the advertisement of tobacco products. We know what the result of that was. Tobacco products are no longer allowed to be advertised. Mainly because they seem to target young audiences. The strategy with this was simple, if you find younger people they will become addicted, buy the product longer and result in long term consumers. The cannabis industry could use previous data and examples like these type of studies in order to avoid the same market mistakes of cigarette companies before their ads were banned.

Buying Both Marijuana and Cigarettes are Like Literally Burning Your Money. The Youth Shouldn’t Be Distracted With It.

Not only does this article include part of a survey in which marketing analytics of retail cannabis sales are compiled by use, it also involves tools with the most reach potential. Of those tools, Facebook is at the top of the list. Unfortunately, younger users are at the forefront of the study. I would imagine that the online marketing tools allow for age range options for target audiences desired to be reached. If not, it is imperative to urge social media restrictions of users who do not fit age range to view Cannabis related content. There may also be youth who are dishonest about their ages online. This source will show parents that mistakes can be fixed. It illustrates integrity and maturity for the business’s market.

What other ways do you think Cannabis’s inevitable legalization can be geared in the right direction? Here’s a link to the @MinorityCannabis Instagram post where panelists can contribute questions that will be answered such as these. Will you click to have your input heard?: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN2nzA_r24I/?igshid=u8b9lhqfis9g

Whitehill, J.M., Mareno M.A. (2020) Exposure to Cannabis Marketing in Social Media and Traditional Media and Past-Year Use Among Adolescents in States With Legal Retail Cannabis, Journal of Adolescent, Volume 66, Issue 2, 2020, Pages 247-254 Health Retrieved from: https://doi-org.mtrproxy.mnpals.net/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.08.024

From the Page to the Stage: Be Heard

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The window is closing! Don’t miss your opportunity to join the 2019 #BeHeardMN youth slam team— join us this Saturday at Third Place Gallery for the fourth preliminary bout in this phenomenal teen poetry series! Poets between 13-19, Sign up using the link in our bio, and make your voice heard! #Power #Youth #Voice

A post shared by TruArtSpeaks (@truartspeaks) on Feb 6, 2019 at 2:48pm PST

I have heard so many times growing up that there is no money in writing. Yeah, you’re good. But where is it going to take you? Reading, writing, and books just aren’t that interesting – and so many other comments about writing and reading, not just novels but poetry too. These sentiments have not stopped as I’ve got older.  Maybe you’re one of those people that agree and haven’t come across a piece of literature that has moved you. You may not have been exposed to writing that is not technical or academic. Maybe you think writing is a talent but not what can give you a fulfilling career. The truth is some of us, especially young people, don’t write for money? Some of us don’t even have an interest in becoming wealthy or famous writers. Some of us were just young and got lucky in our efforts to get free.

In my personal efforts, I came across an organization called TruArtSpeaks. They are an arts based non-profit organization that cultivates literacy, leadership, and social justice through the study and application of spoken word and Hip Hop culture. At sixteen years old I took part in their largest youth program called Be Heard. It is a statewide youth poetry slam series that seeks to identify a cohort of 6 young people between the ages of 13-19 to represent Minnesota in an international poetry slam competition. If you are not familiar with a poetry slam, it’s a competition where people come on stage for 3 minutes and 30 seconds and share their own original work. 5 judges give a score between 1 – 10 (1 being the low and ten being the high) and the highest and lowest score is dropped. Recently, they have decided that instead of going to the festival they offer $500 to the cohort to continue their education along with giving writing and performance workshops the entire summer. By the end of the summer, they create their own manuscript ready for publishing along with support from Graywolf press.

The award for the 6 that end up on the team is amazing. But the real success is what it does for these young people in their personal and professional life. The juice is what this program has helped them discover about themselves. Be Heard has taught many to dig deep into who they are and want to be and demand the change they want to see and live in. It has taught many at a young age that they have peers that care about the same things and adults who want to listen. It has created space for community to prioritize young people and eventually those young people become leaders, movers and shakers in their community. Below is a short documentary TPT did on the Be Heard program in 2018.

https://video.tpt.org/video/Be-Heard-Youth-Poetry-Slam-Series-30289/

“I really hope you stay involved past this,” says Chavah Gabrielle in the video at 2:27. And though she wasn’t speaking to me as I had competed 5 years prior to this, it was the same thing that was said to me 5 years ago and I sure am glad I listened.

I’m a writer – I write stories, poems, and essays (though the essay is more of practice to make creative academic papers and better understand academic papers). I write because what would be considered ‘back talk’ to my parents, was me just trying to communicate how I felt. I write because when I tried to write my first story and shared it with my parents, they both disliked how well I mirrored our life to the page. I write because I’m in control. I write because I’m scared, and it brings me courage. I write for first generation students. I write for Black people. I write for Africans. I write for immigrant parents. I write to make sense of the world. I write when I am wrong and figure out how to get right. I write for a better future. I write, I write, I write because as a young person I needed to empower myself when everything around me was killing me.

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#BeHeard2020 Preliminary Bout 2 is tonight at Hallie Q Brown from 7-9p! Register via the link in our bio or in person if you are a teen poet interested in sharing your voice! Speak poet!

A post shared by TruArtSpeaks (@truartspeaks) on Feb 1, 2020 at 10:34am PST

Be Heard Slam series at what was formerly Intermedia Arts in South Minneapolis. Photo from TruArtSpeaks

If you came to this blog post from reading my instagram post, you’ll remember I said that there is communal and personal power in sharing our stories. And though this is a small bit of how I learned to share mine, it is the first place I really began to heal.

If you’d like to see more of the powerful work TruArtSpeaks is doing, and the power in being heard and sharing stories, check out the video below!

Want to know more? Head over to www.truartspeaks.org and learn about their weekly open mic, writing workshops, and so much of the other amazing work they do. And if you’re feeling inspired, consider donating! As we all know a lot of non-profit business have been hit hard during the current COVID-19 pandemic. If you were at all moved by what you read or the videos you watched, or know someone able to donate pass along their website and follow the “donate now” link and you’ll be able to donate through their GiveMN page. They also accept checks directed to TruArtSpeaks, address is 275 4^th St. E #701. All donations over $50 are tax deductible.

Social Media is Great, but What about Good, Old Fashioned Book Reading?

Everywhere I look, new advances in technology are being made—and seemingly, this happens every couple months when some unique form of technology appears to solve society’s daily problems. When I was younger, I had an mp3 player (really a glorified USB drive) that used an AA battery and held up to 60 songs at once. Then I owned a Motorola flip phone that I used to text my friends and buy cool ringtones. It fit in my pocket, so it was a huge “level up” from the old, clunky phones my parents talked about.

(Does anyone remember the Nokia phones from the 90s? It’s OK if you do; the 90s were pretty cool!)

With these advances in the early-to-mid 2000s, it’s not surprising that now, in 2016, we’ve soared even higher with our interactive watches, Google Glass, and virtual reality. Through these gadgets, we get the latest and greatest features in social media and have the ability to constantly plug into our Twitter, Facebook, and other social circles. We no longer live in a world where we need to disconnect. Our signal is boost 24/7!