Editing Marijuana Policy Project (section)

== TV and radio ad campaigns ==

In July 2006, MPP launched a [[Radio commercial|radio advertising]] campaign that called out prominent public officials, including former President [[George W. Bush]], former California Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], former Vice President [[Al Gore]], and Supreme Court Justice [[Clarence Thomas]] for using marijuana. The ad, which ran on 141 radio stations nationwide, asked: "Is it fair to arrest three-quarters of a million people a year for doing what [[Bill Clinton|presidents]] and a Supreme Court justice have done?"

In early July 2009, MPP introduced a television ad spot advocating taxing and regulating marijuana as a sensible policy change for California, a state facing a huge budget deficit. The ad featured a California woman explaining that responsible marijuana consumers, like herself, want a taxed and regulated system of marijuana distribution so that they can pay their fair share of taxes, which could then be put back into California schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mpp.org/states/california/we-want-to-pay-our-fair-share.html |title=We Want to Pay Our Fair Share |publisher=Marijuana Policy Project |access-date=2012-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404015128/http://www.mpp.org/states/california/we-want-to-pay-our-fair-share.html |archive-date=2012-04-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ad was the first of its kind and was very controversial, with some California television stations refusing to air it. Nonetheless, the ad received a lot of press coverage, including an appearance on NBC's Today Show by MPP's former director of federal policies, Aaron Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gga7IZxBwbA  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/gga7IZxBwbA| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=MPP's Aaron Houston on the Today Show |publisher=YouTube |date=July 9, 2009 |access-date=2012-06-07}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In July 2013, MPP aired a new ad at the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Race. In support of making marijuana legal for adults, the spoof beer ad highlighted the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol by characterizing marijuana as a "new 'beer'" with "no calories," "no hangovers," and "no violence" associated with its use. Although it was scheduled to air dozens of times on a jumbotron outside the entrance of the speedway, the ad ran for just a few hours before being pulled.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddihIWUSQGY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ddihIWUSQGY| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Mason Tvert Talks to CNN About NASCAR Marijuana Legalization Ad|last=Marijuana Policy Project|date=28 July 2013|access-date=19 December 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>