How to Market to 10,000 Stoned College Students

Yesterday, a huge cloud formed over the University of Colorado. It did not come from a fire or from smog. It was a huge cloud of marijuana smoke created by 10,000 people lighting up in unison. Yesterday was 4/20.

For all the pot smokers of the world, 4/20 is the ultimate party holiday. At 4:20 on April 20th, celebrants ritually smoke marijuana. The students at the University of Colorado in Boulder take it to another level. They congregate in a field at the center of campus to smoke in unison.

The Crowd at 4:19 pm on 4/20/ 2009

The smoke cloud at 4:21 pm

Personally, I am against smoking anything. I have never even tried a cigarette, something that is probably due to watching two of my grandparents die from lung cancer. But the fact remains that each year on this day there are thousands of stoned students, hungry as a horde of locusts. and my ice cream shop just happens to be in the path of the swarm.

In the past, we never used to market to the participants of this holiday. Our totals in the early years were about 30% higher then a normal day. That changed three years ago. We now actively market to the post event zombies. This year, our sales were 500% higher than a normal day. That is not a typo. In the last 2 years, we have done five times what we normally do in a day.

Glacier Ice Cream on the Hill’s top secret stoner holiday plan

• Make hundreds of fresh baked waffle cones starting at 12:00 pm. People can smell them within a four block area.
  
• Pass out thousands of 4:20 special deal coupons all over campus starting the week before the event.
  
• Staff three times the normal amount of people to handle the crowds.
  
• Mention our 4/20 special to every customer.
  
• Pray for great weather.
  
• Play Reggae Music all day long.

The line outside Glacier at 4:30 on 4/20/2009

Dealing with over 1,000 stoned students in one day is quite an experience. Orders have to be repeated multiple times. People forget what they order, forget to pay, and often leave belongings. I never marketed for the 4/20 gathering in the past because I did not want to condone smoking pot. Yet, I have come to realize that I am not in the judgment business. If people want to smoke pot, who am I to deny them their ice cream cravings?