Bob Marley to Headline Corporate Cannabis Brand

For his legions of fans, Bob Marley was always more than a mega-selling pop star. He was a hero and a prophet, a dread-locked vision of peace, love and justice. Now, decades after his death in 1981, Marley’s iconic name and face will front something new: the first global brand of marijuana.

On Tuesday, in an exclusive segment on NBC’s TODAY, the Marley family and a Seattle-based private equity firm announced the creation of Marley Natural, “a premium cannabis brand rooted in the life and legacy” of one of marijuana’s most devoted sons.

The line will include pot-infused creams, accessories (like vaporizers in the style of e-cigarettes) and strains of “heirloom Jamaican cannabis,” inspired by the herb that Marley enjoyed in extravagant, finger-sized joints.

A true corporate brand is a major milestone in the ragamuffin world of legal cannabis, where most products still have juvenile names (like Alaskan Thunderf--k) and a sales machine that depends on bikini girls and graffiti markers.

By contrast Marley Natural will look like a modern consumer product, cleanly packaged and marketed with the help of the same agency that branded New Balance and Starbucks Coffee. The cannabis itself will be sold as “loose packed” buds, oils or concentrate, executives said. Sorry, folks, no pre-rolled joints.



cont at
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/le...ley-headline-corporate-cannabis-brand-n250286

strains of “heirloom Jamaican cannabis,”

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That's awesome.

jah mon, very irie

Hardest working dead guy in the music business, hands down.

I understand that he may not be upset by this but I wonder if he truly wants to be remembered as a huge pothead. Yes people remember the music and his name but still he is literally associated with weed and is a "hero" to teenagers. Makes me wonder if he wanted that as a legacy or if it was just forced upon him.

I'd say he was too stoned to care

From what I know, he was a huge fan of cannabis, so he probably wouldn't mind being a "hero" for smoking weed.
After all, it wasn't a bad thing for him, but an enlightening gift from nature.

bob is rolling in his grave

It just feels kinda exploitive but whatever.

szuko000 said:

I understand that he may not be upset by this but I wonder if he truly wants to be remembered as a huge pothead. Yes people remember the music and his name but still he is literally associated with weed and is a "hero" to teenagers. Makes me wonder if he wanted that as a legacy or if it was just forced upon him.

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I agree with that to an extent.

I don't know how he would feel about his image being associated with a specific brand of pot....But I think he'd be honored. Marijuana, as SlimVictor said, was something he really liked and it was a huge part of his life from what I've read. Considering that and the fact that it's the FIRST EVER corporate branded line of legal, consumable marijuana....It really would be an honor to him I believe. That's a pretty big deal.

However I agree with the second part. He really is an absolute icon to a lot of teenagers who in many cases (definitely not all though) have only heard a handful of songs and couldn't be bothered to learn any more about his legacy other than the fact that he smoked pot. I know a lot of "Marleyheads" that think Peter Tosh's "Legalize It" is Bob Marley.

I enjoy his music but I'm far from his biggest fan. I don't know a lot about his life but I've read a decent amount of material on him. I'm not saying he would be upset that he's become such a gem among stoner teens so please nobody misinterpret this...All that I'm saying is I too wonder how he would feel about the things that his image is associated with today.

Bob Marley’s legacy is going up in cannabis smoke

The king of reggae’s majestic music has long battled the ‘bong beats’ tag but now he will be best known as a standard-bearer for dopeheads worldwide

(...)

There is barely a professionally taken photograph of Marley that is not now owned by “the Marley Family” and their emissaries, because Rita has spent the past few years buying rolls of film off every photographer who ever snapped her husband, to prevent anybody else exploiting his image apart from those they have licensed it to.

And that is some of the best business she has done since Marley died. In fact, so lucrative are his image rights that she sold them lock, stock and two spliff-smoking barrels to an American company.

So it is to Rita, the guardian of Marley’s legacy, that the finger has to be pointed for this latest transgression of whatever good name and credibility Marley has left. It is the worst possible use of his name and image. Marley will not be taken seriously, but regarded as a spliffhead. His music, which has battled against the tag of “bong beats” for years, will now succumb to the inevitable as teenagers the world over tune in, get stoned and cop out. Which parent is going to want to have their children singing “One love, one heart, let’s get together …” when the man who sings it is encouraging them to get wasted?

Rita might say that Marley loved to smoke a spliff, and who can argue with that? In fact, it was she who slipped a stalk of sinsemilla (at the time the most common form of marijuana in Jamaica) into his coffin before the lid was shut on his remains for the last time. But there are millions of other people around the world who have enjoyed a good puff who do not suffer the ignominy of having their name and achievements reduced to standard-bearer for dopeheads worldwide – Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger to name but two.

There is, of course, a more sinister consequence of Marley’s name and image being associated with a brand of cannabis. It’s bad enough being black when going through customs, let alone being a dread travelling across national borders. But now, what will the police and everybody else think when they see Marley’s face on legal spliff? How much more difficult is it going to be for my children to avoid the stereotype?

full article at
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...acy-cannabis-smoke-reggae-dopeheads?CMP=fb_gu

^I read that one.

It does seem wrong in my opinion. Though marijuana isn't exactly lethal, it sure shouldn't have the face of Marley slapped on it. He advocated for love more than for weed.

As a huge fan of Bob Marley's music, I also feel the tension between exploitation and support of cannabis.
Interesting issues here.

Is it exploiting his memory to make money? Probably.
Would he have minded? Maybe not.
Is it going to help the world? Unlikely. Just more money for the Marley family.