Branding Whackyweed

While doing research for this blog post, I discovered there are at least 564 nicknames used for marijuana, about 500 more than exist for cigarettes and alcohol. This may be a sign of times to come for brand marketers as they scramble to figure how to brand the newly legal drug.In fact, designers and bloggers are already hard at work branding marijuana. Last month Creative Bloq published an article about the challenges designers face in rebranding marijuana from illegal to legal. They offer advice about the importance of ditching the street names and using scientific language instead.Designers are also challenged when differentiating between service and product types. Similar to alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana comes in many different strengths and flavors—but it also has a wider variety of uses including skincare products and supplements for pets.Brand experts may differ in their process and their outcomes, but they generally agree that branding is a form of story telling. But what is the story they want to tell? Some proponents of marijuana feel it is a recreational drug, similar to alcohol. If this is the story then we can expect to see these products competing with top Super Bowl advertisers like Budweiser, romanticizing the effects of marijuana, presenting it as the ultimate party drug—sure to win you friends, fun, and make all your problems go away. Others feel that marijuana's story should be about it’s medicinal effects and how it can be used for an overall sense of wellness, healing, and proper nutrition—a panacea of sorts. All of these stories collectively indicate big business is on the way. Companies like Aquarius Cannabis are dedicated to branding marijuana. Their website talks about the “cannabusiness” and the challenges of addressing both market sectors—medicinal and recreational.While such business steamrolls ahead, let us not forget the ethical issues involved. Similar to branding cigarettes and alcohol, graphic designers are likely to find themselves on Milton Glaser’s “Road to Hell” when working in this industry sector. Many would argue that much like cigarettes and alcohol, branding marijuana hits #11 on Glaser’s list, “Design an ad for a product whose continued use might cause the user's death?” Although a bit more complex due to proven medicinal effects and other uses, there’s plenty of evidence that the misuse of marijuana that would certainly put it in the same category.Then there’s the impact of growing marijuana on the environment. It’s estimated that 60-70% of marijuana consumed in the U.S. comes from California. Marijuana is a thirsty plant—using twice as much water as wine grapes. Cultivation of this plant, especially during the current drought conditions, needs to be done responsibly. Ecologist Mary Power recently co-authored a paper for the journal of Bioscience that details the destruction of the sensitive watersheds where cultivation is done and stresses how important it is that the environment be included in the debate on marijuana legalization. Power feels that quasi-legalization increases the difficulty to address the harmful environmental effects and full legalization may make things better from an environmental standpoint.Regardless of your opinion on marijuana, there is no disputing the fact that as the debate continues about its legalization, branding efforts will continue to grow right alongside it—and graphic designers will be navigating these murky ethical waters right alongside as well.Sources:http://www.pot-heads.com/what-are-the-nicknames-for-marijuana.aspxhttp://onlineslangdictionary.com/http://www.fastcodesign.com/3024457/6-branding-lessons-from-the-pioneers-of-weed-designhttp://www.creativebloq.com/advertising/how-designers-are-rebranding-marijuana-61515127?utm_source=Design+Indaba+mailing+list&utm_campaign=6e059e5cdf-Weekly_17_jun_20156_18_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_eb8e2b1d91-6e059e5cdf-429312541http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/10-best-ads-super-bowl-xlviii-155441http://www.miltonglaser.com/milton/c:essays/#2http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_high_environmental_cost_of_illicit_marijuana_cultivation/2895/http://www.livescience.com/42738-marijuana-vs-alcohol-health-effects.html

Fish Tales

Y'see, most men, they'll tell a story straight through, it won't be complicated, but it won't be interesting either. —Edward Bloom (from the movie "Big Fish")

The fictional character from "Big Fish," Edward Bloom, spent most of his life as a traveling salesman. Known for his gift of storytelling, the statement that he makes to his son, a journalist in search of truth, nicely sums up the conundrum of graphic designers. Getting a message across by creating visual interest through unique and compelling imagery is our job. Is this possible when telling a story straight through without providing any embellishments?In an interview for Lucienne Roberts' book, Good: Ethics of Graphic Design, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London, Anthony Grayling, says that he feels asking graphic designers not to persuade is like asking fishermen not to fish—it’s what we are trained to do.In the essay "Advocating Ethical Design" David Berman, graphic designer and author of Do Good Design, contends that on the contrary, it's a graphic designer's responsibility to take the time to understand the mechanics of persuasion and use it responsibly—he feels anything else are visual lies, and deadly.Berman believes people are much more influenced by things that look real as opposed to symbology and feels that the laws and rules of society and declared through words, not pictures, make it easier to get around a law with the vagueness of pictures.This debate is not new, it's a topic that's been discussed by graphic designers for years. However what Berman is particularly concerned with is how ethics apply to graphic design on the web. If the battle is being waged to make graphic designers more ethically responsible, how can this message be spread to the DIY population—those untrained in graphic design who write, upload, and create their own work and post it directly online? According to Berman, “Designers tend to underestimate how much power they have. They’re culpable.” He estimates that within a decade, the majority of humanity will be able to publish information on the web. And that’s why almost everyone needs to know something about ethical web design.Another essay on the Digital Ethics website, Digital Ethics and Kids, discusses the responsibility of teaching digital ethics in the home. They contend that children who are raised in families who have no moral or ethical knowledge will not make ethical decisions with their use of digital media and that they won't even realize if they are doing right or wrong.What do you think? Does the web make the responsibility of graphic designers any different and how much responsibility do they bear? Should the push for digital ethics be made at home, toward graphic designers, or both?Sources:http://www.finestquotes.com/movie_quotes/movie/Big%20Fish/page/0.htmhttp://digitalethics.org/2011/05/20/essay-advocating-ethical-designhttp://digitalethics.org/2011/06/14/essay-digital-ethics-and-kids/

Joe Camel—a brand stretched to the max

“Joe Camel” and the stretching of the Camel cigarette brand is a prime example of brand stretching at its worst.In David Berman's book Do Good Design he talks about how before the “Joe Camel” cartoon character appeared in the 1980s Camel cigarettes had one percent of the U.S. teen cigarette market. By the time the campaign was stopped in 1997 Camel had 32 percent of this market, and more than 90 percent of six-year-olds could recognize Joe (more than knew Mickey Mouse.)