Brands light up Twitter for 4/20

By Shareen Pathak • April 20, 2015 •

Brands love a good holiday, but some special occasions are still more, well, mainstream than others. For companies to acknowledge 4/20 — alternately known as “National Munchies Day” and “National Pot Enthusiast Day” — while remaining on brand requires a delicate balancing act. It works for Ben & Jerry’s. Less so for, say, Nike. Here, then, are a couple examples of brands ablaze today:

Ben & Jerry’s
The Vermont-based ice-cream company has a history of making stoner-friendly jokes. When Colorado legalized recreational marijuana last year, the company sent out this sly tweet.

BREAKING NEWS: We’re hearing reports of stores selling out of Ben & Jerry’s in Colorado. What’s up with that? pic.twitter.com/zBs8nyxZWn

— Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) January 2, 2014

This year, the company went all out, introducing a new product, the “Brr-ito,” an ice-cream burrito that is designed to cure just about anyone’s munchies. You can even make a “half-baked” version. The brand released this spot, a spoof of Apple’s “1984” ad, to announce the product. Denny’s Considering how clever the Denny’s account can be on a daily basis, this is a pretty sub-par attempt. Punny? Yes. Funny? Not unless you’re smoking something.

fork twenty, scramble eggs everyday — Denny’s (@DennysDiner) April 20, 2015

Applebee’s
The restaurant chain’s Twitter account is apparently spending the day listening to its own Pandora station, featuring both established and budding artists.

♫ High & Dry by @donotsofficial @pandora_radio https://t.co/uuUfPsKVCI #NowPlaying ♫

— Applebee’s (@Applebees) April 20, 2015

Refinery29
Props to the publisher for a fun, non-pushy tweet that references one of Anna Faris’ best movies ever. But bonus points for the follow-up tweet that denied emphatically any reference to today’s date.

This just means that I’m looking for @annakfaris today, because I love her and would love to run into her. This isn’t a 4/20 Tweet.

— refinery29 (@Refinery29) April 20, 2015

Willie Nelson
Speaking on music, no brand is quite as synonymous with weed as Willie Nelson’s. To celebrate 4/20, Nelson released a new single: a duet with Merle Haggard called “It’s All Going to Pot.” He also created a weed-themed Spotify playlist including the new song, Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” Cab Calloway’s “Reefer Man” and Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It.”