CBS has sacked a Super Bowl ad by a cannabis company that calls for the legalization of medical marijuana.
Acreage Holdings, the US-based company backed by former House Speaker John Boehner, said the network nixed the proposed 30-second spot after seeing a rough outline, according to Bloomberg News.
The ad aimed to “create an advocacy campaign for constituents who are being lost in the dialogue,” Acreage President George Allen told Bloomberg.
“It’s hard to compete with the amount of attention something gets when it airs during the Super Bowl,” he added.
Medical marijuana is legal in more than 30 states, but the federal prohibition on cannabis has restricted research and made it tough for some potential patients to acquire a drug that proponents say helps treat seizures, pain and other conditions.
The weed company had hoped to push for increased access to medical marijuana with the proposed ad, which features a veteran with combat injuries and a child with seizures who benefit by toking up.
Acreage, which went public in Canada last year and has a market value of more than $2.4 billion, created the spot thinking it had a legitimate chance of getting onto the air during the Feb. 3 game.
The company said it was careful to position the ad as a “call to political action” rather than a pitch for its brand.
“We certainly thought there was a chance,” Allen said. “You strike when the chance of your strike has the probability of success — this isn’t a doomed mission.”
The company said it plans to publish a 60-second version of the spot on its website.
“We’re disappointed by the news but somewhat unsurprised,” Allen told CNN Business.
He said that media outlets may be loathe to air cannabis ads as long as the drug remains illegal for recreational and medical use on a federal level.
The federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act.
“Still, we developed the ad in the spirit of a public service announcement. We feel it’s our responsibility to advocate on behalf of our patients,” he said.
Allen said Acreage had not decided whether to run its 60-second ad or a 30-second version when it learned that the network would not accept spots for medical marijuana.
“It’s a public service announcement really more than it is an advertisement,” Harris Damashek, Acreage’s chief marketing officer, told USA Today.
“We’re not marketing any of our products or retail in this spot,” he added.
CBS is charging an average of $5.2 million for a 30-second ad in the game between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots.
(Excerpt) Read more in: NY Post