The ad sought to create awareness on the topic of marijuana legalization
CBS has decided to pull the plug on a commercial that would have run during the Super Bowl next month. Acreage Holdings had produced a TV spot that was designed to “create an advocacy campaign for constituents who are being lost in the dialogue,” but will now have to find a new method of spreading the word. Of course, it’s inevitable that the Super Bowl will see a plethora of ads for everything from alcohol to big pharma products.
It isn’t cheap to put an ad up during the Super Bowl – the average cost is over $5 million. However, it seemed to be a solid investment for Acreage, who developed the spot to speak more as a “call to political action” than an attempt to sell its products. The company’s president, George Allen, states, “It’s hard to compete with the amount of attention something gets when it airs during the Super Bowl.”
The denial came as a shock to Allen. He says, “We certainly thought there was a chance. You strike when the chance of your strike has the probability of success — this isn’t a doomed mission.”
News of the rejection was picked up by Bloomberg and many other news sources. When Bloomberg attempted to contact CBS for its opinion, the company didn’t respond.
Chris Long of the Eagles took a shot at CBS following the announcement, tweeting, “Keep pumping the booze ads, guys. You’re doing great!”
