Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Is 4/20 Cashed? Marketing Companies Turn Sacred Pot Holiday Into Advertising Green!
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 20, 2012
Modified Apr 20, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 20, 2012
Modified Apr 20, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Unless you're already so blazed you've forgotten what day it is, you know that this year 4/20 falls on a Friday, which makes it very convenient for those who observe the holiday to toke right over the line into the weekend. It's also a prime opportunity for marketers to drum up some pot-related profit. The Wall Street Journal reports that this 4/20 in particular features more commercialized connections to the high-liday, with film studios and television stations (among others) clamoring to capitalize on it. We've certainly done our part to let you know where you can take advantage of 4/20 here in NYC. But there's so much more! Let us count the ways people are cashing in on the holiday:
- Marley, a documentary about Bob Marley, was released by Magnolia Pictures today (check out our interview with director Kevin MacDonald here).
- The trailer for High School, an Anchor Bay Entertainment picture starring Adrien Brody as a pot dealer, drops today, a little over a month before the film's scheduled release on June 1st; the movie had its New York press screening this morning, where attendees received goody bags with (regular!) brownies and bags of weed-like oregano. Showtime will be running promos for the upcoming eighth season of Weeds (with special 4/20 related pics of munchies on its Pinterest page) during its broadcastof Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja, a documentary about the marijuana trade in 1970s and '80s Florida.
- Comedy Central waked-and-baked with a 10:30 a.m. airing of Cheech & Chong's Still Smokin' - Dumb & Dumber is on tonight, with stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay closing out the weekend Sunday.
- And film studios and television stations aren't the only ones using 4/20 to their advantage. In Austin, Texas, for instance, an 8 foot tall bronze statue of noted pot enthusiast Willie Nelson will be unveiled at today's venerable hour of 4:20 p.m.
If you're wondering where 4/20 got its name, by the way, it is most likely not in reference to a police code for marijuana, as is widely believed. Actually, the cannabis code is reportedly derived from a group of high school kids from 1971 San Rafael, California. The kids, who called themselves the Waldos because of the wall they habitually lounged against, were trying to locate an abandoned marijuana plot on the coast, and would convene outside their school after athletic practice at 4:20 every day to go find it.
The Waldos started using "4:20" as a reference code for their meetups, and after a while, it became a signal just to go smoke. As luck would have it, one of the Waldos' older brothers would smoke up with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh; it's likely Lesh picked up the phrase from him, and helped spread it to his ample fan base. And thus, a holiday was born, finally eclipsing Hitler's birthday.
Tagged
4/20
Bob Marley
comedy central
Grateful Dead
marijuana
wall street journal
Weeds
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
On HBO's “The Gilded Age,” Ben Ahlers is New York high society’s man of the hour
The actor plays Jack Trotter, a fictional inventor of an impressive alarm clock. He’s developed an enthusiastic following.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Nov 5, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
Bowling, burgers and civilian housing: Life on the Fort Hamilton Army installation
We went behind the gates to see what's happening on the leafy plot beneath the Verrazzano Bridge.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Bowling, burgers and civilian housing: Life on the Fort Hamilton Army installation
We went behind the gates to see what's happening on the leafy plot beneath the Verrazzano Bridge.
By
James Ramsay
When turning back the clock means going under an NYC sidewalk
By
Hannah Frishberg
Yes, Stevie Wonder is playing MSG. No, you can't afford tickets. See these shows instead.
By
Hank Shteamer
'The Muppets Take Manhattan' in Queens and more November films in NYC
By
Emma Stefansky
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .