South Park mocks cannabis giant MedMen

The satirical series South Park has recently come to prominence for its parody of a promotional video directed by Spike Jonze for cannabis company MedMen.

The parody pokes fun at the opportunism of the company, which had been accused of using its influence within the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association to keep home cannabis cultivation illegal. In a statement, a MedMen representative had said that the company «respects the right of those who choose to grow cannabis for personal use», but declined to answer specific questions about his involvement in the memo's creation.

The original video proposes a journey through the history of cannabis in the United States, pointing out that George Washington, like other founding fathers, owned fields of hemp, insisting on the normal nature of the thing. She quickly returns to the War on Drugs, which today continues to target minorities, who are the first victims of police controls and summary arrests. The rest of the video is inspirational, with the narrator talking about the investment opportunities and economic gains linked to this market. The clip ends with an image of a happy couple, who can now live in a «new normal», where consuming cannabis is becoming commonplace.

South Park picks up on the style of the video, but pokes fun at the hypocrisy of the cannabis giant: «And then a group of young corporate bankers tell us we're all in the «new normal» as they try to turn God's green miracle into an easy investment for themselves.» says the narrator. «They're even hiring top Hollywood directors to make them look hip and cool. But you know what? Fuck these guys. They have no integrity.».

«Tegridy Farms» is the name of the fourth episode of South Park's 22nd season. The character Randy convinces Sharon, his wife, to sell their house and move into a cannabis farm, Tegridy Farms, where the plant is harvested and a variety of products are made from Cannabis. It's this fictional farm that the South Park video promotes, poking fun at both its «in-tegridy» (integrity) and the more «greedy» competitors. The Tegridy Farms name and the fictitious varieties featured in the episode have been trademarked. With South Park weed in sight?