Trailer Park Boys and the Promotional Cultures of Cannabis in Canada: Audiences, Influencers, and Imminent Commodities

Abstract

While Canada, like most other nation states, has adopted various aspects of neoliberalism, the recent Cannabis Act presents ideological tensions and practical concerns given its advertising and promotional restrictions. Given the rise of neoliberalism within the dominant social, economic, and cultural system of consumer capitalism, it seems contradictory for the Canadian state to develop legislation that creates (or at least, legalizes) a new market wherein advertising and promotions (i.e., the driving forces of consumer capitalism) are effectively made absent. This article identifies and interrogates the existing tensions and contradictions between the Cannabis Act and the promotional cultures of consumer capitalism, as well as the ways in which the Trailer Park Boys (TPB) “brand” and performers (as promotional intermediaries) have attempted to circumvent the existing promotional restrictions. Beginning with a review of the existing literature regarding relevant theoretical perspectives and key concepts, the article provides a brief overview of the Cannabis Act, its promotional restrictions, and the exemptions and legal loopholes thereof. Finally, in presenting and engaging with a case study, this article concludes that the TPB brand has, effectively, circumvented the Cannabis Act’s existing restrictions and subsequently become a multi-platform promotional intermediary.