Marijuana Business Magazine - January 2017

names were fictitious, their contents were real: Inside each glass jar was an eighth of an ounce of cannabis. Netflix and Carrot declined to com- ment for this story. But Carrot’s execu- tive creative director, Jonathan Santoro, told Adweek that Netflix’s attorneys approved the partnership with Alterna- tive Herbal Health Services and carefully worked out the legal details. “Netflix or Carrot never physically touched the flower,” Santoro told Adweek. The strains were packaged and sold by dispensary employees. Alternative Herbal Health Services purchased the marijuana and kept all the proceeds. By contrast, Netflix, co- creator Lorre and Warner Bros. Televi- sion did not have a financial involve- ment in the cannabis itself. The eighths sold for $35-$65 includ- ing tax, the regular prices for the cannabis used in the fictitious strains. Each buyer on premiere weekend also received a free gift bag with “Dis- jointed” swag, including a hat, T-shirt, lighter, pins and stickers. Netflix provided the decorations, promo packaging and gift bag items and also paid for extra services for the premiere party at the store, such as security and valet parking. The promo was successful. About 27 pounds of the promo strains sold out in hours, Browner said, as cast, crew and fans of “BoJack Horseman,” “Grace and Frankie” and other Net- flix shows came in to check out the merchandise. Job Description As a consultant on “Disjointed,” Browner tapped her nearly 15 years of expertise as a cannabis retailer, beginning with script development. She spent six weeks with the writers, helping them understand how a dis- pensary works. She fact-checked that the strains were what a real caregiver would recommend for a particular medical condition. And she convinced the writers to include a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raid in the final episode. Together, they figured out how the show’s characters would violate federal law in a way that would not break the audience’s emotional connection with the cast. To promote Netflix’s “Disjointed,” Alternative Herbal Health Services in West Hollywood was redecorated to resemble the dispensary featured in the show. Photo by Christina Welsh Dina Browner, center, co-owner of Alternative Herbal Health Services, poses with “Disjointed” star Kathy Bates and the show’s co-creator and showrunner, David Javerbaum. Photo by Dougie Baldwin Netflix, for its part, said the “fan activation” campaign built awareness before the launch of “Disjointed” by engaging fans of its other hit shows, including “Arrested Development” and “Orange Is the New Black.” Developing the Strains Netflix’s design shop, Brooklyn, New York-based Carrot Creative, worked with Browner for months to curate 12 cannabis strains. Carrot suggested a mood for each show, and Browner matched them to the taste and effects of existing strains, then coordinated production with her store’s team of growers. Carrot designed the glass jars with wood stoppers and colorful labels. The new strains included fictional hybrids alluded to in “Disjointed” episodes, including Eve’s Bush, an indica hybrid “for getting in touch with your inner goddess,” and Rutherford B. Haze, a sativa hybrid. While the strain 80 • Marijuana Business Magazine • January 2018