AN ANALYSIS OF LEGAL
ADVERTISEMENTS FOR
CANNABIS PRODUCTS IN
COLORADO
By Joanne Gula, Ph.D. Jiaxi Shen, MFAIntroduction
■ Colorado has had legalized recreational
marijuana/cannabis since November 6, 2012. ■ It is now legal in the following states: Alaska,
California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
■ The researchers analyzed advertisements for incentives used to attract target markets to consume their products and brands.
Method
■ Newsmagazines were collected from July 2015 through January 2016 from three cities in Colorado: Pueblo,
Colorado Springs and Denver.
■ Categories were created to examine tactics that were used by marijuana dispensaries that sell recreational marijuana to attract customers.
■ The researchers then computed percentages of
advertisements in each category. All three newspaper
magazines totals were then combined for overall analysis in each category.
Categories
■ Size of Advertisement – 2-page – full page – 1/2 page – 1/4 page – 1/8 page – 1/16 page – insert Next CategoryTwo-page
inserts
Back to Sizes next category
Categories
■ Promotions – Deals – Giveaways – Prizes – Sales – Loyalty – Rewards – Early Bird – Happy Hours – Coupons Next CategoryPromotions
Deals and Coupons
Promotions
■ Happy Hours
Next Category
Categories
■ Visual of Cannabis:
– An actual picture of the cannabis plant or bud.
– Graphic picture created of the cannabis plant or bud.
■ Social Media – QR Codes
– Shopping with your phone for cannabis products – Social media icons
Visual of cannabis
■ Real Leaf Picture
Visual of cannabis
■ Graphic Leaf Picture
Social Media
QR code &
Shop with your phone
Social Media
Social media icons
Next Category
Categories
■ Holiday Themes:
– Halloween: Pictures associated with Halloween such as
pumpkins, bats, spiders, ghosts and also headlines.
– Thanksgiving: pictures associated with the holiday such as
turkeys.
– Christmas: pictures associated with the holiday such as Santa
Claus, Gifts, reindeer.
– New Year’s: any reference or picture for New Year Celebration.
■ Bravado:
– The use of words or awards, such as “We’re the best cannabis”.
– Slogan and quotes.
Bravado
Bravado
■ Slogan
Back to Bravado Next Category
Categories
■ Words: – 420 – joint – marijuana – cannabis – hemp ■ Discounts: – veterans – students – Colorado residents Next CategoryWords related to cannabis
■ 420
Discount
■ Student discount
Next Category
Categories
■ Appeals
– Sex: The use of provocative words or pictures of seductive models.
– Humor: The use of words or images to suggest something that is
humorous.
– High society
■ Colorado logo
Themes
■ sex
Themes
■ high society
Next Category
Colorado
Logo
Go to Result
Result
■ 229 Print advertisements were analyzed. – 25 Pulp Ads
– 71 Independent Ads – 133 Westword Ads
Independent
■ Top Categories
– Promotions and Incentives
– Visuals of cannabis
– Words related to cannabis
Top Subcategories
- Deals – 60.6%
- Graphic leaf pictures – 38% - Actual leaf pictures – 25.4%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Westword
■ Top Categories
– Promotions and Incentives – Social Media
– Visuals of cannabis
■ Top Subcategories
– Deals – 62.4%
– Social media icons – 36.1% – Graphic leaf pictures – 35.7%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
Pulp
■ Top Categories
– Promotions and Incentives – Social Media
– Words related to cannabis
Top Subcategories
- Social media icons – 68% - Graphic leaf pictures – 48%
- Words referring to Marijuana - 44%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Overall
■ Top Categories
– Promotions and Incentives – 91% – Visuals– 55.9%
– Social Media – 33.6% ■ Top Subcategories
– Deals - 59.2%
– Graphic leaf pictures – 37.6% – Social media icons – 29.7%
Holiday Themes
Holiday Themes
Holiday Themes
Holiday themes
Holiday Themes
Future Research
■ PSA
Pueblo County introduces first of its kind retail marijuana PSA
