Fyreside Newsletter - 4/20/26

Hey Reader,

Happy 4/20 to you if you celebrate! If you're unaware, April 20th is commonly agreed upon as "The Marijuana Holiday." I'm not going to go into the history, but here's a cool PBS article about it if you're interested.

I'm bringing up 420 in my marketing newsletter because, without a doubt, a bunch of brands will make themed social posts today. Some of those posts will be lighthearted, funny and well received. Others will feel disingenuous, hacky and will fall completely flat. So today I'm going to answer definitively, once and for all, should your brand make a weed joke on 4/20?

Step 1: Consider your audience

This seems so straightforward. That said, when trends rise or a current event takes center stage, everyone seems to forget who they're talking to. It's important to remember that your marketing is not for you, it's for your audience. When you make that silly post about your employees having red eyes or a strange smell coming from the kitchen, will it resonate with your audience? Will they even get it?

Marketers, myself included, love to talk about customer avatars. These are made-up, hypothetical people that patronize your business. They're also the made-up, hypothetical people that your marketing should target. If your customer avatar is an upper-middle-class mom of two who drives a Range Rover and invests in seasonal home décor to impress the PTA, she will not appreciate your sly reference to Cheech & Chong. Worse yet, she may find it distasteful or off-putting, even if it was a sick reference, man.

Things are different if your customer avatar is a young professional in their 30s living in Southern California. They probably will appreciate your sick reference to Cheech & Chong because they literally had a movie come out two years ago. The point is, remember who you're trying to reach and act accordingly.

Step 2: Consider your brand voice

Like senior citizens with Life Alert, all brands should have a brand voice. Truth is, even if you haven't intentionally established a brand voice, your audience has likely assigned one to you. Your brand voice dictates the vibe of your content and marketing. Is it chill and laid back? Is it professional and efficient? Does your brand speak to your audience like a buddy or like a parent? How much does that AI pot leaf wearing a branded t-shirt align with the way you typically communicate with your audience?

Let's jump back to our two avatars, Range Rover Mom and SoCal YoPro. Perhaps you are a wellness brand targeting Range Rover Mom. Your content is friendly and inviting; it invites Range Rover Mom to drop her socialite persona to engage with your products after the kids are in bed. Even though Range Rover Mom isn't a cannabis user, your post about relaxing in the bathtub with a joint will probably not upset her. It aligns with the brand voice, it makes sense, even if it doesn't resonate with her, she won't be shocked to see it.

Conversely, what if you're a talent recruiting agency trying to catch the attention of SoCal YoPro? All of your content is direct, tight and grammatically correct. You post often about how SoCal YoPro should skip their daily coffee to invest in a well-tailored suit for interviews. SoCal YoPro might give Snoop Dog a run for his money, but your post about puff, puff, passing on frivolous spending is going to give them the ick. It's way off brand and not what SoCal YoPro has come to expect with you. You're not meeting them where they are, you're doing that Steve Buscemi meme.

Step 3: Identify the point

My high watermark for branded 420 advertising belongs to Ben and Jerry's. The brand has a history of advocacy around many things, including cannabis justice. Here's their Instagram post from two days ago, and here's another from yesterday.

Why does your brand want to make a weed joke today? Do you have a point? I like what Ben and Jerry's are doing, but, truth is, you don't need this much motivation behind your marketing if you know what you're going for. Maybe you're just trying to relate to your audience, get some extra engagement and fill a slot on the social calendar. That's fine too! Just make sure that you've already completed steps 1 and 2. See, I'd bet that both Range Rover Mom and SoCal YoPro get down with some B&J Half Baked, and this post likely won't stop either of them from buying a pint. That's because it has a point. It's more than a one-off joke, man.

In conclusion:

This stuff isn't hard. These are three, easy to complete steps, but someone is going to forgo them. Don't let it be you, or you'll end up like that melted girl on the couch.

-MC

p.s.

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