CANNABIS CULTURE – Pattison Outdoor, Canada’s largest outdoor sign company, has apparently had a change of heart and will now allow billboards advertising Sensible BC’s marijuana decriminalization campaign.
Sensible BC Director Dana Larsen told Cannabis Culture on June 18 that the company refused to sell his group billboard space after briefly negotiating and rejecting the wording of potential advertising.
The denial caused a wave of media attention scrutinizing the company’s decision.
Larsen told CC yesterday that the ad firm has since contacted him and agreed to run the Sensible BC billboards.
“I had a pleasant conversation with the president of Pattison Outdoor,” Larsen told CC. “He apologized for the ‘communications breakdown’ and said that upon review, they would be happy to run our ads.”
No one is sure exactly what caused the advertiser to change its position, and calls to Pattison from Cannabis Culture were not returned, but it’s possible the company was attempting to avoid a bigger backlash from the public in British Columbia, who consistently show high polling numbers in favor of marijuana legalization.
Pattison Outdoor faced a considerable negative reaction last June when it refused to publish a Greenpeace ad for solar power.
“I guess they got a bunch of media calls and changed their mind,” Larsen told the Richmond News.
Larsen said he was unsure, however, if he would be taking them up on the offer.
“We’re not sure we want to spend our money with Pattison at this point,” he told CC. “We’ll be reviewing our advertising plans over the coming weeks.”
Sensible BC is a ballot initiative campaign that would effectively decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in British Columbia by defunding police enforcement budgets for cannabis offences.
The group is currently collecting contact information from potential supporters and will soon enter the signature-collection period, where it will have 90 days to convince 10% of registered voters in each electoral district in the province to sign a petition supporting the initiative.
Find out more about the initiative at SensibleBC.ca.
