Eaze, the well-known on-demand delivery service dubbed the “Uber of Weed”, delivered the worst marketing idea we’ve seen in the industry to date: a THC candy giveaway to customers on Halloween. The promotion went out on 10/31 via email, and was titled: “Not a Trick: We’re Giving Out THC Treats on Halloween”.
The email was forwarded to Marijuana Media by commentators concerned with this ill-thought-out combination of a THC candy giveaway and Halloween. We attempted to reach Eaze’s Director of Marketing, Jamie Feaster, for feedback, but were not able to obtain comments.
Eaze recently announced the completion of a Series B financing round of $13 million. It has now raised more than $25 million in total, making the company the highest-funded startup in the marijuana industry to date. Fresh VC led the recent round with participation from DCM Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Rose Capital, and others. The company also lists Snoop Dogg’s Casa Verde Capital as one of its early investors. We hope this new funding will lead to more sober marketing in the future.
Fears of THC-infused candy being given away to kids on Halloween were commonplace when recreational marijuana became available in 2014. Members of Denver Police Department’s Marijuana Unit warned parents to be on watch for suspicious candy being given out at Halloween, which was picked up in a story by CNN that highlighted parents’ fears in CO. The Denver Police Department also uploaded a “Halloween Marijuana Edibles Warning” on their YouTube station. SmartColorado.org, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting youth from marijuana, produced billboards with warnings: “Marijuana Candy. Trick or Treat? Can you spot the Pot?”, above pictures of candies that were commonly sold as marijuana edibles.
All these scares were debunked as myths and fear-mongering, and authorities in Washington State later admitted concerns were overblown. They were also far more muted this year – even SmartColorado.org did not reproduce their billboards. Which makes Eaze’s promotion on Halloween even more ill-considered. The association of THC candy, marijuana edibles, and Halloween is something the industry needs to distance itself from – it will feed into anti-marijuana sentiment, and fuel hysteria.
Attention, Eaze: if you don’t want to act responsibly, you should at least read the labels. THC-infused products are drugs, not candies. Halloween is not a good time to promote THC candy giveaways.
