In doing so, Streetadelic inadvertently captured a moment in New York City, and a shift from underground, illicit circulation of cannabis to fully legalised commercial circulation. That change was reflected in the design of the bags that he found, which almost overnight changed from being lo-fi and subtle to glaring and garish.
Looking through his work, there are common threads in their design – neon colours are common, as are cartoon graphics. Fronting the baggies are plenty of references to memories that many people would associate with their youth, from Dragon Ball Z to ‘TREES R US’, to even a depiction of Barack Obama photoshopped with a spliff in his mouth. “It’s like being marketed towards children, because weed is a kind of candy for people,” Pflieger says. “And it’s fun – marijuana has always had this kind of psychedelic marketing and it’s always been associated with cartoons, like The Simpsons or Rick and Morty.”
That eye-catching boldness also serves a functional purpose for weed companies – like any successful product, marketing matters. “Branding is important, and it has to stick in the mind,” he continues. “It was the same in Paris for hash in the ’90s and early ’00s – bars were stamped so people could recognise them, like a Mercedes logo or Playboy bunny stamp. Now it’s very sophisticated – sometimes they give toys [with the weed] or put it in a box shaped like a Game Boy.”
