StaffSeptember 12, 2020
New Jersey: Ballot Advocacy Using Banner Planes
- New Jersey votes on cannabis legalization in less than two months and entrepreneurs are getting creative to get-out-the-vote.
- Educational events company Accelerate Cannabis is flying planes over the Jersey Shore to redirect public attention to advocacy groups and legalization messaging.
- The State only has a handful of fully-vertical MSO’s currently and legalization will open the market to the industry at-large.
In less than two months, New Jersey voters might start a chain reaction on the East Coast to legalize cannabis and create a fertile market sandwiched between New York and Philadelphia – that is, if nothing goes wrong for advocates clinging to a close polling margin.
“It’s so easy to get trapped just talking to people on our side,” said Ellie Siegel, producer of Accelerate Cannabis events and lead sponsor for the Aerial Advocacy Campaign, “we needed a way to reach millions in the State with clear reasons why they should ‘Vote Yes’ and to tell everyone they know to make it down-ballot to the referendum.”
With social distancing in effect, Siegel sees this campaign as a way for businesses to reach both everyday voters and industry actors, “webinars and virtual conferences don’t tend to attract newcomers in the same way and as New Jersey becomes one of the hottest markets in the world, our mission has been to educate and create a sophisticated network of service providers and advocates who are ready for expansion.”
From 500 ft in the air, six feet of separation seemed to matter less as visitors flocked to the Jersey Shore over Labor Day Weekend. Accelerate Cannabis is flying a banner again this Saturday to keep the momentum going and hopes to continue mass market advocacy as the season changes.
Supporters of the Aerial Advocacy Campaign include Longview Strategic, an industry consulting firm focused on licensing and expanding emerging markets, as well as Women Grow, a female-led cannabis networking community, and Trichome Analytical, a local testing lab in the State. “We are all coming together to draw attention to the advocacy efforts of #NJCAN2020,” Siegel continued, “this coalition has been formed by people who have dedicated their careers to trying to get legalization right and we want the public to turn to them for information and resources about the ballot question.”
The campaign also links to Headcount’s Cannabis Voter Project, a multi-tiered effort through the entertainment industry to get-out-the-vote. With fewer venues, concerts, and live events offering spaces for mass market advocacy, people are finding new ways to support the legalization message and remain socially distant.
Video Staff
