Hasta La Creative!

Direct Marketing, Design
Joel Holtby

On October 17th, 2018, Canada officially became the second ever nation to legalize recreational cannabis in the world. As the country’s largest cannabis incubator, Leaf Forward teaches businesses how to grow in a changing landscape—that’s why they wanted to celebrate this historic occasion, not just with their clients, but with the entire nation. With no particular financial resources allocated to a campaign, they needed a big idea on a small budget.

Leaf Forward is a cannabis business incubator that helps companies grow within the industry. The company wanted to celebrate legalization with the whole country, so we created a smokable version of the legalization bill. Introducing, Pass The Bill: all 90,659 words of the legal document, printed on ultra-thin rice paper using safe, smokable, non-toxic ink, and packaged like official legislation.

First, we reformatted the bill and made it super tiny. We then fed ultra thin rice rolling papers through food-safe printers, to transfer the bill to a smokable format. The papers were then packaged in a document-inspired design, with a cannabis-inspired version of the Canadian crest, and a wax seal. We launched the idea on social, with a kickoff video on October 17th—legalization day. We sent our rolling papers to influencers and leaders of the cannabis movement, who quickly shared the idea with their followers. Next, we made the papers available to the public with POP displays in cannabis culture stores. The Canadian government passed the bill, and now Canadians could, too.

Pass the bill put Leaf Forward on the map for cannabis enthusiasts, business people, and influencers across the country. The initiative made headlines across the globe and was shared across the country. In fact, some of the world’s most influential cannabis publications praised the campaign, including Herb.co and High Times. It was also featured as one of Ad Age’s top 5 creative brand ideas. In the end, we created a celebratory initiative that was recognized and valued by industry professionals, activists, enthusiasts, designers, advertisers, and everyday Canadians.

Advertising Agency:Rethink, Toronto, Canada
Creative Director:Joel Holtby, Ian Grais, Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick, Chris Staples
Art Director:Skye Deluz
Writer:Kyle Simons
Print Producer:Narine Artinian
Strategist:Hannah Newport
Amplification Strategist:Aliz Tennant
Director:James Cooper
Videographer:James Cooper
Photographer:Peter Lusztyk
Account Manager:Sara Lemmermeyer
Account Director:Scott Lyons