January 23, 2022 “Jellies for dads,” or an ad for pot?
A little while ago I ran a guest post in which we explored pot in the Hasidic community, specifically in certain male circles. We looked at how there are little clues in the music and culture that hint at an increased normalization of pot use among the young, the “chilled,” the artsy, and so on. Well, recently, this advertisement ran in the popular online messaging group “Kol Haolam.” It is very simply and unabashedly an ad for Delta 8 THC (which is apparently a less potent cousin of marijuana), with a playful twist too!
It reads:
Jellies for dads
Say your blessing loudly
10 mg Delta 8 / Gelatin free
Enjoy $10 off / Use code Trip10
There are a few things to unpack here:
The ad is describing the product as treats for the adults, by using language that’s usually used for children. For instance, children would often be told to loudly recite the blessing before they eat (and adults would generally whisper it). The ad also plays with the Yiddish word “loud,” which is actually הויעך — high. So there’s the play on being high. They’re not trying to skimp on the pot winks: The code is even Trip10. My guess is that the readers are being told in as many words as possible what this is, because otherwise many would not get it. I would venture to guess that the people who accepted and ran this ad had no idea that it was for a product that had “psychoactive effects.” I also find it interesting that the way the website describes the product is almost a gentle initiation to the complete newbie.
And of course, as always, I am struck by how gendered all these happenings are—how much they are centrally occurring in male spheres. This ad specifically targets men, or fathers. It is hard to know how much, however, is crossing over the gender divide into the women’s worlds.