Hasta La Creative!

April 20 — marijuana’s unofficial holiday — is almost here. So don’t be surprised if pot references start spreading through social media like, well, a weed — including from marketers. After all, with the marijuana legalization movement growing, pot jokes have become fairly safe terrain for brands looking to be seen as hip.

Consider Ben & Jerry’s, which on Monday will debut a new product in its ice cream shops called a “Brrr-ito,” which is an ice cream burrito. To support the launch, the brand is rolling out a digital campaign that includes a video spoofing Apple’s famous”1984″ ad. The spot (above) includes a smoke-filled scene as a voice-over declares that on April 20 “you’ll see why 4-20 will be exactly like 4-20.” The brand has also made T-shirts that ice cream shop workers will wear that promote the burrito with the slogan “This is how we roll.”

“What are two better snack-munchy type foods than ice cream and a burrito?” said David Horowitz, creative director for Mekanism, which is behind the video. And “4-20 is a day when people are maybe thinking about munchies a little bit more.” The Apple spoof, he said, was a nod to another case of a product and date (1984) being “perfectly married together,” he said.

Continue reading at AdAge.com