Is Bud Porn The Latest Cannabis Marketing Strategy?

It’s not every day you land upon a strain that’s worth photographing unless you grow your own weed or purchase the same high-end strain repeatedly. When cracking open a fresh package of weed from your local dispensary, it’s like unwrapping a gift with wide and eager eyes, revealing the delicate herb you’ve chosen to purchase. 

One man is taking that experience a step further. Meet Erik Christiansen, a 33-year-old creative who’s made a career for himself in a sector of the cannabis industry that would probably gain some unwanted suspicion a decade ago. The cannabis photographer uses a unique macro lens to offer a completely different world of marijuana visuals, helping consumers further understand the complexity of the plant. 

While there’s an abundance of ‘food porn’ or ‘art porn’ on the internet and around social media, Christiansen has made a living for himself in the ‘bud porn’ sector of the cannabis industry. His Instagram page is packed with complex images of cannabis buds, their neatly-placed and shimmering trichomes, and vibrant, rich colors. 

As legalization continues to expand around the country, more companies are hopping into cannabis and looking for unique ways to rollout marketing schemes. With such mesmerizing images of the plant, like Christiansens, there’s a new path for ‘bud porn’ to thrive in marketing advertisements and strategies.

Tim Blake, a California cannabis pioneer who founded the Emerald Cup, says that the cannabis industry is updating its marketing tactics to attract a whole different audience. Blake says marketing strategies for cannabis “used to be geared primarily toward a young, hipper, smoker-stoner crowd,” according to The Globe And Mail.

With increased legalization, cannabis companies are aiming to attract people who’ve never used the plant before, like seniors or older adults looking for alternative medicine. These initiatives invite users far and wide to educate themselves on the plant, especially now that it’s legal and cannabis companies are popping up left and right. 

Thanks to skilled and creative photographers like Christiansen, he’s helping the cannabis industry look more modern, fancy, complex, and intriguing. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Humboldt Seed Co, Nat Pennington, told the Globe And Mail that “There’s something that’s just almost sexy about it in nature,” adding that such detailed and vibrant images portray a “botany of desire.”