Will this be the year that
makes CBD more than just a
curiosity to most people?
It certainly seems to be heading that way, if recent stints on daytime
TV and tabloid features are anything to go by.
Amidst an influx of ‘new year, new you’ adverts and #ad #spon posts
on Instagram, many will find it refreshing to learn of something new,
which could one day be as popular as any item you’ll find in your
nearest health food store.
Last year, CBD products appeared on shelves in pharmacies, with
many not fully understanding the products which were advertised in
the same price range as some of the most luxurious skincare products.
But 2019 already seems to be ahead of the game. The Daily Mail
recently featured an article with the headline: ‘Why CBD is the hottest
new wellness trend with cannabis-infused drinks, hair treatments
and even croissants now in the market (but it won’t make you high).’
That article gained more than 300 comments and almost double
that in shares in quick succession, and more or less hit the nail on
the head, quoting some of the trendiest people in the budding CBD
industry, like Rebekah Hall, CEO of Botanic Lab and referencing
London’s Hari’s Salon, which now offers a ‘Spirit of Hemp’ hair
treatment complete with a CBD oil head massage.
This coincided with a review of a London-based gym class in GQ
Magazine, which provides yoga fans with the option of posing with
CBD oil patches mid-workout.
Merely two weeks later, a friend of the magazine told me their CBD
beer and gummies were to be featured and sampled on live television
by Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield on ITV This Morning. I
checked in after the segment had aired and found that their website
had received non-stop hectic traffic as a result. Their social media
following also skyrocketed, all due to a few minutes on mid-morning
TV, during which Philip Schofield feared he would get ‘high’ from taste
testing the samples.
And that’s where the industry may need to take heed. While CBD
attracts more curiosity and more attention in the media and online, by
growing a relatively new industry, the onus is on the professionals to
educate people who want to know more about ‘feeling the effects.’ So
that CBD newcomers don’t think they’re going to get high off a packet
of gummies which says zero THC on the label.
While going mainstream may be an industry-wide goal, it’s more
important now than ever to get the right information to the right people.
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