With pot legal, a rebranding of ‘stoner’

SAN DIEGO— There’s a badge on her uniform, possibly a gun on her hip, and her arms are spread a little, suggesting she’s ready for anything.

You might think that you’re looking at a police officer walking a beat.

But what you may have seen on billboards and, more recently, the internet is an effort by MedMen Enterprises of Culver City to remind you that marijuana users come from all walks of life. They can be cops, nurses, teachers, scientists, construc- tion foremen, and grandmothers.

All of these people appear in MedMen ads that also feature the word “stoner” with a line drawn through it. As in, let’s get rid of this.

“That word can be used to negatively stereotype people,” said Daniel Yi, senior vice president of communications at MedMen, which operates 14 retail pot stores. “We want to take that stigma away. We want to make marijuana mainstream.”

MedMen’s $2 million “Forget Stoner” advertising campaign debuted earlier this year and is part of a larger, ongoing push by the cannabis industry to normalize the use of marijuana.

Some retailers have asked media outlets to stop using the world “pot” because they think that it carries a negative image — one that can dampen sales.

Other companies — like San Diego’s Kb Pure Essentials — partly avoid such issues by marketing cannabis-based health and wellness products. Things like oils and salves that customers use to treat sleep problems, stress and inflammation.

“It’s legal now,” said Brooke Brun, the company’s co-found- er. “People don’t feel so bad about asking for it, or being seen at a CBD booth.”

But there’s still a stigma attached to marijuana. And it was apparent earlier this month when Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla, smoked weed on an entertainment program broadcast live on YouTube. The company’s stock quickly fell.