16433: Toasted Subs Are Smokin’…?

 

Cheba Hut “Toasted” Subs appears to be a Potbelly for potheads.

15079: Clio Search For Revenue Is Deep In The Weeds.

Higher Calling? More like highly desperate for increased revenue.

14573: Cannabiz Team Believes In Joint Collaboration.

Cannabiz Team specializes in staffing exclusively for the cannabis industry. Is the hipster team on the website homepage reviewing a detailed document or planning to roll a humungous joint?

11580: Better Ingredients. Better Ads…?

Advertising Age reported Papa John’s put its creative account into review. Adpeople backing Obamacare need not apply. Ditto supporters of legalizing marijuana.

Papa John’s Launches Creative Review

Move Comes a Month After Bob Kraut Named CMO

By Maureen Morrison

Papa John’s has put its advertising account into review.

The account is currently at ZGroup, a unit of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Zimmerman. The review, which will focus on creative only, was initiated following several months of evaluation of the brand’s advertising needs, according to a press release. Zimmernman has declined to participate in the review. NJS Consulting will handle the review process.

A spokeswoman for ZGroup said “the numbers speak for themselves. We are incredibly proud of our relationship with Papa John’s and wish them the best.”

“As the recognized industry leader in customer happiness and the leader in digital ordering, Papa John’s has built an incredible amount of momentum over the past few years,” said John Schnatter, Papa John’s founder, chairman and CEO. “We feel the timing is right to seek an agency partner that can capitalize on that momentum and help advance our brand to the next level through fresh thinking, brand messaging and more innovative, integrated marketing.”

The move comes a month after the company named former Arby’s marketing exec Bob Kraut its senior VP-CMO. Mr. Kraut replaced Andrew Varga, who left Papa John’s in March to become president at Zimmerman. Mr. Kraut said that the agency “has been an important partner and member of the Papa John’s marketing team for many years. We thank them for their contribution and loyalty to the Papa John’s brand and believe they will continue to serve us well in their media and co-op buying role.”

Papa John’s is the No. 3 pizza chain in the U.S. by systemwide sales, according to Technomic, following category leader Pizza Hut and Domino’s. It has 7.3% market share, with $2.4 billion in U.S. sales in 2012. Pizza Hut has 17.1% market share and Domino’s has a 10.5% share.

Papa John’s spent about $119 million on U.S. measured media in 2012, up 4.8% from $113 million, according to Ad Age DataCenter analysis of Kantar Media data. Pizza Hut spent $239 million in 2012, while Domino’s spent $197.2 million.

9441: Weeding Out The Bad Ads.

Mr. Pot Lawyer looks like he’ll work for weed. Meanwhile, wonder if “The Walmart of Weed” has rollback prices.

8531: Will Work For Weed.

Earn up to $120k annually as a medical marijuana caregiver? Of course, you could probably earn more as a recreational marijuana grower.

7794: Blacks Ponder Proposition 19.

From The New York Times…

Blacks in California Split Over Marijuana Measure

By Jesse McKinley

SACRAMENTO — Ron Allen says he knows all too well the ravages of drug addiction.

“I was a pastor on crack cocaine, sir,” said Mr. Allen, who says he has been sober for 11 years and now identifies himself as the bishop of the International Faith Based Coalition here. “Drugs have no religious preference.”

And while crack cocaine laid him low, Mr. Allen says his first drug of choice was marijuana. So it is that Mr. Allen and a cadre of other black pastors, priests and other religious leaders have bonded together in recent weeks to fight what they see as a potentially devastating blow to their communities: Proposition 19, the California ballot measure that would tax and regulate marijuana.

In doing so, Mr. Allen and his followers have opened a new, potentially crucial front in the battle over Proposition 19, pitting those afraid of more widespread use of the drug versus those who see legalization as “an exit strategy in the war on marijuana.”

Mr. Allen has been particularly critical of Alice A. Huffman, the president of the California branch of the N.A.A.C.P., who has been vocal in her support for the measure, casting it as a potential victory for civil rights that could help reduce the number of young black men jailed on marijuana-related offenses.

“I’m not encouraging anyone to recreationally use marijuana,” said Ms. Huffman. “I am simply focused on the injustice and the disparities in the criminal justice system.”

How black voters in California decide on Proposition 19, which would allow anyone 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, could be critical to its success or failure. (At the moment, possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, about an ounce, is punishable in most cases by up to six months in prison and a $500 fine.)

Blacks make up less than 10 percent of the population in California, but unlike two larger minority groups in the state where opinions on the measure are also split — Asians and Latinos — their “participation in elections is on par with their populations,” according to the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit group here.

In the case of Proposition 19 — which is trailing narrowly in a recent Field Poll — appeals to that potential swing bloc have already begun, and the measure’s backers have been seeking out the support of prominent black leaders. Last week, proponents secured what they view as a major endorsement, that of Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the former United States surgeon general and the first black to hold that position.

In a statement to be published in a voter guide, Dr. Elders said the legalization bill would help divert law enforcement resources to more serious threats. “We can let police prevent violent crime, or we can accept the status quo, and keep wasting resources sending tens of thousands of nonviolent marijuana consumers — a disproportionate number who are minorities — to jail,” Dr. Elders wrote.

Read the full story here.