No More “Joe Camel,” Please!

Many of us who try to stay current with legalization efforts around the country were amazed this past week when ResponsibleOhio, the group that recently qualified a full legalization initiative for the November 2015 Ohio ballot, managed to offend almost everyone, regardless of their views on marijuana legalization, with their ham-fisted attempt to be cute.

As part of their bus tour to college campuses around the state, called the “Green Rush Bus Tour” (a questionable name for a group of investors who hope to get rich off of legal marijuana in Ohio, but that’s a different question for a different day), to try to familiarize college students with the legalization proposal and build excitement among the millennials, the campaign introduced the world to “Buddie”, a life-sized, super-hero, caped-crusader pot mascot, with a muscular green and white body and a green pot bud as a head, and a large B across his chest.

A cartoon character to help advance the legalization of marijuana. Now that is an advertising approach that seems to have a familiar ring to it.

Ever Hear of ‘Joe Camel’?

Apparently no one on ResponsibleOhio’s staff or working for their ad agency is old enough to remember “Joe Camel,” the infamous cartoon mascot utilized by R.J. Reynolds to advertise their Camel cigarette brand from 1987 until 1997, to attract young cigarette smokers to the practice, and habit, of smoking cigarettes, and to their brand. Following years of pressure from the American Medical Association, Congress and several public-interest organizations, and a pending civil suit brought against the company, Reynolds finally ended the decade long Joe Camel campaign.

But to a large degree, the damage had been done. During the decade of the Joe Camel campaigns in magazines, billboards and other print media, teen Camel brand sales had increased from less than $6 million a …read more

Source:: Weed Feed