Smoke Signal: Actor Seth Rogen and his partner Evan Goldberg are bringing their Canadian cannabis … [+]
The news Seth Rogen has waited a decade to announce?
He will soon be legally selling weed in the United States. Rogen’s beloved Canadian cannabis brand Houseplant, founded with his creative partner Evan Goldberg, is launching in California. Expect to see Houseplant available initially through a direct-to-consumer ordering platform on the brand’s website beginning Thursday, March 11, 2021.
“If you know anything about me at all, I’m going to assume it’s that I really love weed,” Rogen announced to his Twitter audience of 9.1 million followers on March 1, 2021. The launch traffic was so overwhelming, it crashed the Houseplant’s website servers. Houseplant plans to roll out in select dispensaries across California this Spring.
“We are finally ready to launch in America,” says Rogen. “What we are doing is bringing you the best strains of weed that have been hand-picked, by that I mean hand-smoked, by me. It’s just the weed that I love that I want to be smoking. We have an orange one for sativa, a purple one for indica, and it even stacks.” Green packaging is the Houseplant hybrid strain. Rogen and Goldberg underwent an “extensive process,” testing hundreds of strains before choosing the initial launch strains: two sativas, Diablo Wind and Pancake Ice, and one indica, Pink Moon.
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The brand has made waves since its 2019 launch with chic, colorful, and minimalist design. The packaging is recyclable, aiming for an eco-conscious consumer. Houseplant even won a Clio award in 2020 for its unique design. The brand has a partnership with cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corporation in Canada, but will not be working with Canopy stateside. Instead, Houseplant’s California cannabis will be grown by an undisclosed select group of cultivators. Rogen was the talk-of-the-town at Hall of Flowers in 2019 where Rogen appeared in-person to scope out the California competition.
Rogen shows off on his Twitter page with an image of the sativa strain called Pancake Ice. He says the strain is testing at 33% THC, which is quite high. Their strains are named after weather patterns and have been remarked as a luxury brand, costing around $13 per gram in the Canadian marketplace. The company also has a line of Houseplant infused drinks, launched in May of last year. No word yet on if the drinks will be available in the U.S. to start. The line in Canada also carries pre-rolled joints and capsules, both not yet to be announced their introduction to the American marketplace.
The company will also be making house goods like ashtrays for cannabis consumers, with a chic and practical approach. “I lose my lighters all the time, but no more,” says Rogen in the video. “This is just the beginning.” They have now three social media accounts representing these three new arms of the business: Houseplant Canada, Houseplant for consumer goods and “thoughtfully-designed objects”, and Houseplant US. The design in its sleek, mid-mod curves and colors has been carried over to the Houseplant consumer goods sector.
“This is honestly my life’s work, and I’ve never been more excited about anything. I hope you enjoy it,” Rogen says. The company has even made vinyl records with a mixed soundtrack for each strain.
“Houseplant was born out of our love and passion for cannabis, design and art,” Rogen said in a press release. “Evan and I also recognize that our lifelong dream of starting a cannabis lifestyle brand like Houseplant comes with a commitment to changing the unjust and racist cannabis laws that still exist in today’s society. We understand our responsibility to help right those wrongs and are dedicated to creating a more diverse, equitable cannabis industry.”
The brand did an immersive pop-up installation inside a series of dispensaries last year, which served as a sort of “set” consumers could walk in and feel the Houseplant ethos. No news yet on a pop-up in California, but I reached out to the company for comment on a future immersion here in the states.
“Introducing Houseplant in the U.S. has been a long time coming and we’ve taken a disciplined approach to set ourselves up for long term success,” Michael Mohr, co-founder and CEO of Houseplant, said in the press release. “We have spent years obsessing about the underserved cannabis consumer, researching and ideating what the holistic Houseplant experience should look like. We are proud to share this beautiful collection of Housegoods and cannabis strains with the public.”
Evan Goldberg, Canadian screenwriter, with Seth Rogen, Co-founder, Houseplant, on centre stage … [+]