Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Snoop Dogg is America’s most famous weed smoker. He’s like the face of modern marijuana lovers, a generation of people who get high and stay mellow while still handling their business. I wrote about him for Rolling Stone about 20 years ago, and I’ll never forget riding in his car with him, “zipping down a desolate highway in his dark-blue Porsche Carrera, carefully rolling a blunt with both hands as he steers with his knees.” We did a great “Star Stories” episode about it, but I digress.
It seems like everyone loves Snoop, and everyone knows he stays high. So millions were shocked to hear Snoop say on Instagram that he was quitting weed. Well, actually, he said, “I’ve decided to give up smoke,” which sure sounded like “I’m quitting weed.” Billboard’s report on it was titled “Snoop Dogg Says He’s Kicking His Sticky Icky Habit to the Curb: I’ve Decided to Give Up Smoke.”
Turns out it was all a marketing stunt.
Snoop is working with a company called Solo Stove, which makes smokeless stoves. Right now, they’re selling a Snoop stove. It was an advertising ploy and an extremely successful one that pulled in tons of eyeballs and tons of free media. Business schools might teach this campaign in marketing classes one day. Millions of people heard that Snoop was going smokeless and interpreted that to mean America’s most famous smoker was quitting. There was a collective gasp. Then, a beat later, Snoop said, just kidding, and in the blink of an eye, millions of Snoop fans became aware of what Solo Stove is. I had never heard of them before all of this.
Having Snoop…
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