Cannabis takes center stage in Super Bowl advertising for the first time

At this point, the popularity of CBD can hardly go unnoticed. After numerous celebrity endorsements and an advertisement in Times Square, the non-psychoactive compound in cannabis has officially become mainstream. Don't you agree? Well, the next stage of the CBD will be at the fifty-third edition of the Super Bowl.

The 53rd edition of the sporting event with the most spectators in America will have its first paid sponsorship for a product with CBD. The Baristas, the coffee company behind the ad, will promote its exclusive CBD-enriched coffee blend in partnership with Flower Power.

The ad will promote Baristas' EnrichaRoast CBD coffee. It will air before, during and after the game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams on February 3rd.

In addition to advertising their CBD-infused coffee, the ad allows viewers to send a 120-character message to the artist responsible for halftime animation, namely Maroon 5. Other upcoming artists include Outkast's Big Boi and Travis Scott.

Typically, companies looking for traditional advertising spots to promote their products encounter a number of obstacles. However, the declassification of hemp as a narcotic from Schedule I, as a result of the recent Agricultural Law of 2018 (Farm Bill), is completely changing paradigms. CBD thus begins to gain its space among American viewers.

Leighton Knowles, CEO of Flower Power, I told Forbes it took companies just an hour, after the Agricultural Law was finalized, to go forward and file the publicity request. Baristas worked with cannabis-focused advertising agency Canna Broadcast to help them sign the first-of-its-kind deal.

Despite several earlier requests from ad agencies being turned down – even after the Farm Bill was passed – the CBD coffee announcement changed the trend.

“The more people learn, the more things can change,” Knowles said.

Last year, approximately 103 million viewers watched the 52nd edition of the Super Bowl. That's about a third of the population in America.

According to a 2017 article of of NBC, 52% of the American population has tried cannabis.