Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back Onto Twitter: Cannabis Advertisers, Elon Musk's Blue Check & More

Cannabis companies lapsed into collective Twitter ecstasy in March when the Bluebird opened its wings and embraced cannabis advertising on its site, making history in the process as the first social media site to do so. The hope was that more and more would soon fly into the Twitter nest.

Now, several months later, some of those cannabis companies are complaining that while the site may have opened up to allowing cannabis to advertise, the change hasn’t made it easy for weed companies to benefit from Twitter’s real golden egg: the platform’s vast reach. 

This brings us to the famous blue checkmark, the one Stephen King announced that he would not be paying “$20 a month to keep my blue check? “F–k that, they should pay me,” King tweeted. Telsa TSLA and Twitter CEO Elon Musk haggled and made a counteroffer. “How about $8?”

Now, several months later, the famous blue checkmark costs $1,000 a month. And while famous writers might be able to afford that, many small cannabis businesses can’t. And, Twitter requires advertisers to be Twitter Blue or Verified Organization subscribers.

What Happened?

Not long after what seemed like a seismic shift, reality hit in the form of Twitter rules and regs such as not permitting ads to include pricing, offer promotions, discounts, promote giveaways, sweepstakes or contests, wrote MJBizDaily, which did deep dive into the hurdles facing cannabis advertisers trying to work through Twitter's policies. 

Twitter allows placing ads in new marijuana markets, although the company's public policy for advertising drugs doesn’t indicate which markets are medical and which are recreational.

At the same time, cannabis companies advertising on Twitter must attest to the fact that they are licensed to do business in the states where their ads will appear and that they'll only target customers over 21 in jurisdictions where they're licensed. Fair enough.

Despite the red tape, Rosie Mattio, CEO of cannabis industry PR firm Mattio Communications said companies that use Twitter will see benefits.

“Now they can promote their products with great content in the ad copy,” including photos she told MJBiz, and target their preferred audience.

Chicago-based PharmaCann has been trying to advertise on Twitter for more than a month and was hoping to be up and up and tweeting by 4/20, said Bryan Benavides, the company's director of digital marketing.

“We had to fill out forms and prove we have licenses in certain states and markets,” he told MJBiz.

Hemp Is Hobbling, Though It Shouldn’t Be  

While hemp is legal in all 50 states, Denver-based CBDistillery, the first CBD company to launch ads on Twitter, has only managed to get ads in 20 out of the 50 states where it sells products.

Company president and CEO Chase Terwilliger said the issue is that Twitter requires proof of licenses in each state in which he wants to advertise although not all states require CBD companies to be licensed. But he's patient.

“(Twitter is) new to this, too, and they’re obviously going through a lot of changes,” he said. “We have to walk them through the process.”

Alexa Alianiello, Twitter’s head of sales and partnerships is probably happy to hear Terwilliger’s kind words.  

“We have gathered meaningful feedback from the cannabis industry which we have taken into consideration to create even more opportunity,” said Alianiello who was a keynote speaker at Benzinga’s Cannabis Capital Conference in Miami in April. 

She told the packed room of cannabis investors and leaders to think of Twitter as a home for advertising, highlighting the importance of conversation on the platform.

"Twitter has your back. We're a part of this community. We're with you on this journey," Alianiello said.