U.S. marijuana laws are absurdly outdated and hypocritical. There are also real people who have done real time — and still are — for nonviolent weed offenses – and their sentences are often longer than those who have committed far worse crimes.

We created this blunt Out Of Home campaign on behalf of Jay Z's marijuana brand MONOGRAM, exposing the hypocrisy of America’s drug laws. Each of the executions featured real people who have been incarcerated for non-violent marijuana offenses.

Created at Mischief USA @NoFixedAddress | Photography by Hype Williams

Role: Copywriter, Creative Director

Soon after Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, debuted his cannabis brand Monogram last fall, his team came out with a daring campaign that parked billboards alongside borders of states reflecting the legal/illegal divide on recreational cannabis use.

Now, the company is out with another provocative push that challenges the hypocrisies of cannabis legislation. The outdoor ads call out laws that ban cannabis-related activities yet don’t restrict behaviors many would likely consider questionable or wrong—like bestiality, cannibalism or first-cousin marriage. 

"Cannabis laws are out of date and disproportionately cruel and punishing when compared to the rest of the legal code,” said Carter in a statement. “We still don't have proper regulation for texting and driving in Missouri, but staying home and smoking weed will get you locked up."

The bold statements sit against a backdrop of striking, black-and-white portraits of eight individuals who have been charged for cannabis-related offenses.

"I created this campaign to amplify the voices of those who have been penalized for the very same thing that venture capitalists are now prospering from with the emerging legal cannabis market," Carter added. "Far too often we forget that these are real people whose everyday lives and futures have been affected by this outdated legislature.” 

Monogram tapped Mischief @ No Fixed Address to help create the campaign, which is running on outdoor murals, billboards and wild-postings as well as on mobile ads in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. and Miami, with plans to expand to more cities before the end of the month.

Jay-Z launched his cannabis line Monogram not too long ago, and now the brand is challenging national drug policy with a new awareness campaign.

On Monday, Monogram launched the campaign, which is heavily critical of the war on drugs, specifically when it comes to Black Americans. The campaign highlights the hypocrisy inherent in current cannabis regulations across the country, accompanied by stark portraits of those impacted by these antiquated laws. “The war on drugs worked, if systemic racism was the goal,” reads one of the posters from the campaign. “Weed is a federal crime, even in the states where sex with farm animals isn’t,” reads another.

“Cannabis laws are out of date and disproportionately cruel and punishing when compared to the rest of the legal code. We still don’t have proper regulation for texting and driving in Missouri, but staying home and smoking weed will get you locked up,” said Jay-Z in a statement. Last year, Jay also partnered with new cannabis company TPCO, and he announced that he hopes to “shape a brighter and [more] inclusive future” in regards to marijuana.

“I created this campaign to amplify the voices of those who have been penalized for the very same thing that venture capitalists are now prospering from with the emerging legal cannabis market,” added Hov. “Far too often we forget that these are real people whose everyday lives and futures have been affected by this outdated legislature – people like Bryan Rone, who can no longer pursue a career in sales because of a cannabis-related conviction in 2003.”

Jay-Z’s new cannabis brand, Monogram, just unveiled a classy, black-and-white ad campaign calling out the ridiculous laws still on the books in some states where cannabis is still illegal.

The ads were posted by an ad agency called Mischief @ No Fixed Address, and, in partnership with Jay-Z’s Monogram, they have rolled out a line of digital and billboard ads that point out that in areas where cannabis has yet to be legalized, acts like marrying cousins, texting and driving, having relations with farm animals, and practicing cannibalism are still legal. 

Contrasted with these facts are images of people who have faced cannabis-related charges, highlighting the start contrast of how marginalized people, especially people of color, are treated in America thanks to the ongoing war on drugs. 

These ads are being displayed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington, D.C., and hopefully more cities soon, as the campaigns get noticed and gain traction.

While many states, and the entire country of Canada, have embraced full cannabis legalization, other states are still holding off, and many areas with legal cannabis still have work to do when it comes to expunging past cannabis charges. The ad campaign wants to highlight this contradiction.

Steve Allan, CEO of Parent Company, the organization that Monogram is a part of, agrees that it is important as a successful cannabis company to call to light these injustices and fight back against unjust incarceration. Another goal of Monogram will be to give Black and minority entrepreneurs better access to participate in the cannabis industry. The group will be looking for businesses who “are building value for their communities and diversity in our industry.”

And Jay-Z and his company aren’t the only celebrity cannabis personalities stepping into the spotlight and calling out these inequities. Evan Goldberg, who is rolling out his cannabis collaboration with Seth Rogan in the U.S., titled Houseplant, compared the way legal cannabis has been treated in Canada and the U.S. with some dismay. 

As Monogram continues to do good work in the industry, it will be interesting to see how else they call out inequity and seek to fight against it.