Community Groups Accuse ‘Cookies’ Cannabis Brand of Marketing to Children

Cannabis brand Cookies is being accused of marketing to children due to the company’s name and colors used at its storefronts, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The San Diego Planning Commission and the Torrey Pines Community Planning Group levied the charges prior to Cookies receiving approval in June to open its third location in Sorrento Valley, California.

In an interview with the Union-Tribune, Crystal Millican, vice president of retail for Cookies, defended the firm’s branding saying that the company’s use of blue in its signage is because the color has a calming effect and that its name is derived from cookies being made in many varieties—much like cannabis—and consumers need to find the strain (or flavor) they want.

“We don’t market to anyone other than our customers and patients. We obviously hear the concerns, and we will work to win over any neighborhood association.” — Millican to the Union-Tribune

Planning Commissioner James Whalen, who voted to approve the retail dispensary in June, told the Union-Tribune that he hates the name, adding that “it’s disingenuous to say it’s not attractive to young people.”

The commission approved the Sorrento Valley location 5-1. Commissioners said their decisions must be based on zoning law and compatibility rather than opinions about the name of the business, according to the report.

In San Diego, where officials initially objected to the name, Cookies had offered to change the storefront logo to a capital C logo with a plus sign, but the city’s cannabis ordinance does not allow logos, only letters.