It is not new for brands to latch onto the slang of today’s youth as a way to build authenticity and relevance, but for a brand like Cann, a THC-infused seltzer, slang is a must. With flavors including Blood Orange Cardamom, Lemon Lavender, and Grapefruit Rosemary, Cann includes a 2mg “microdose” of THC in each of its eight-ounce cans. Cann’s marketing strategy relies heavily on social media platforms like TikTok. Thus, the company has had to get sneaky with its marketing to work within the platforms’ rules.
Its latest sneaky attempt involves the use of the term “gardening” as slang for cannabis use. A quick search on TikTok for “gardening session” populates a montage of videos of people being (or perhaps acting) high while doing things such as cleaning up or going to a party. The point is that nobody actually mentions or displays cannabis directly in any form, but the message (a leaf and green-hearted emoji included) implies the content is cannabis-related.
However, co-founder and CEO of Cann, Jake Bullock, shared that the social media giant may have caught wind of “gardening” growth. Bullock stated, “What our team had been seeing is that some of these videos where we’ve had creators say, ‘Oh yeah, let’s do gardening drinks, it’ll be fun,’ have been flagged or taken down.” While some videos have not been taken down, there have been enough instances to suggest that TikTok’s algorithm may have gotten wise to the marketing strategy. TikTok declined to comment.
About Cann
Positioned as a lifestyle beverage, Cann is an alternative to beer, wine, hard seltzers, and the like, offering consumers a mild buzz that is supposedly hangover-free. The Los Angeles-based brand launched in 2019, selling to consumers aged 21 and up at retail stores in 25 states, as well as direct-to-consumer in 14 more. According to researcher BDSA, Cann is one of the best-selling beverages in the category, with a 12-pack selling for roughly $66.
Last year, CNBC reported that Cann had raised $36 million from backers, including Imaginary Ventures and Gwyneth Paltrow, but the company has also dealt with a volatile regulatory environment.
Cann’s presence in the market was largely built on social media, with the company having over 100,000 followers on Instagram and about 27,000 followers on TikTok. These platforms remain significantly important to helping the company continue to grow; however, Cann is experiencing its own content being flagged or removed. Bullock stated he is trying to work with TikTok, in particular, to stay on the right side of the platform’s algorithm, as platforms seem to offer more grace to creators than actual brand content, perhaps more grace to celebrities.
“If Kate Hudson’s gonna scream and yell about how our cranberry sage flavor mixes with vodka, that doesn’t seem to get taken down,” he says, referring to a Cann ad clip the company shared on social media.
Slang is Here to Stay
Keeping up with online slang remains an important part of the brand, even without its workaround function. It was his own marketing team that taught Bullock about “gardening.”
“We had a set of videos that our team had worked with creators to put together,” he says. “One of the videos was a woman gardening. And I was like, ‘This is great. I love it. I love gardening. I’m growing a bunch of potatoes on my roof right now!’” Enjoying a can of Cann while tending to vegetables sounded fun. “And they’re like, ‘Jake, no, it’s a joke.’”
So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the term has become an established part of cannabis brands’ vocabulary to maneuver around social media platform rules that restrict depictions or references to regulated/illegal substances. The “gardening” trend has become a way for Cann and other cannabis brands, digital creators, and influencers to spread the word about their products through social media.
As slang continues to evolve, Cann’s marketing team is keeping an eye on other terms as they pop up.
