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Clio Cannabis, the global awards competition recognizing the cannabis industry’s excellence in marketing and advertising, announced its 2022 award winners in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel. For the first time the Clio Cannabis Awards were part of the programming at MJ Unpacked, the exclusive consumer packaged goods (CPG) event for cannabis retailers and brands.

Presented by Columbia Care, the 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards honored what has been a phenomenal year for cannabis marketing. “This year, we had more entries than ever before,” said Michael Kauffman, Executive Director of Clio Cannabis, in a statement to StupidDope.com. “And we saw some incredible work from across the globe. For example, we gave out trophies to two German agencies… and we had other winners from places like Canada, UK, Brazil, Germany, Israel, Croatia.”

(C) Clio Cannabis

Weedmaps And Cann Win Big At The 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards

A total of 109 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Clios were awarded to brands deemed to have made significant contributions to the cannabis industry. Weedmaps scored major points with their “Brock Ollie” campaign, amplified by its rejection from NBC ahead of the Super Bowl, and the Pride Month collaboration with Cann beverages, the music video “Taste So Good” starring the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 and numerous LGBTQIA+ icons. “Brock Ollie” won 3 awards, while “Taste So Good” received 5. (Cann and Weedmaps additionally received individual Clios for other projects released.)

Statues were given out onstage for Clio Cannabis Agency of the Year and Brand of the Year. The latter went to Cann, with the Agency of the Year title and award going to Jung von Matt AG, the German agency representing Berlin’s public transit company, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG). BVG and Jung van Matt AG also won a Grand Clio Cannabis Award, the competition’s highest honor, for the “Hempticket” campaign featuring an edible ticket drizzled with hemp oil.

Among its plaudits, “Brock Ollie” won a Grand Clio Cannabis Award for Social Media.

Additional Grand Clio Cannabis Award winners:

Experience/Activation: “Missouri’s Own Brand Partnership by Vivid” by Show-Me Organics for Missouri’s Own Edibles

Social Good: “Freedom Grams” by SERVICEPLAN GERMANY for AROYA

Kauffman stated that “the work that earned [this year’s] Grand Clio Cannabis Awards represent such a wide spectrum of ideas—from a hyper-local partnership for a niche market, to a campaign spreading awareness about a regulatory challenge that the whole industry faces. It just goes to show that creativity can help solve all types of problems, and our aim is to celebrate the inherent value of the creative process.”

Clio Cannabis Executive Director Michael Kauffman opens the 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards as Elvis Presley in a nod to the Las Vegas setting at the MGM Grand Hotel (C) Clio Cannabis

Best Of 420 And Clio Cannabis Impact Awards

Other categories honored brand design, such as Klaus’s win for Most Colorful Beverage, or advocacy, as seen in Charlotte’s Web’s Rock the Roc documentary. Claybourne Co. took home the coveted Best of 420 Award with their “Rollin’ with Claybourne: Road to 420” campaign.

Sam D’Arcangelo, Director of Headcount’s Cannabis Voter Project, was also on hand to accept the 2022 Clio Cannabis Impact Award presented by Columbia Care. The organization was recognized for their efforts to inform, register and turn out voters who are interested in cannabis policy and their work to ensure that the cannabis community is an active and informed voting bloc.

Rapper Berner accepts the 2022 Honorary Clio Cannabis Award (C) Clio Cannabis

Berner Given 2022 Honorary Clio Cannabis Award For Cultural Contributions

Rapper Berner, co-founder and CEO of the globally renowned brand Cookies, accepted his Honorary Award to great applause. Each year, this special honor goes to an individual whose creative contributions have shaped popular culture, championed the benefits of cannabis and paved the way for better understanding of the marketplace. The 2022 Honorary Clio Cannabis Award was sponsored by the Cannabis Media Council and 46 Mile, a Hearst Corporation.

"I’ve been put in a box my whole and stereotyped because what I do for a living, this felt good," Berner wrote on his Instagram account. "Tonight I won the 2022 Honorary Clio Cannabis Award that recognizes creators on the forefront of marketing and communications in the cannabis industry."

Part of Honeysuckle's "Empress State" Clio-winning photo shoot (C) Sam C. Long / Honeysuckle Media, Inc. @tissuekulture

Clio Cannabis Awards Honor Women In Cannabis With Honeysuckle's "Empress State" Photo Shoot

We are thrilled to announce that Honeysuckle also won a Clio for our Empress State photo shoot in our Lil Wayne 420 print edition. This feature is a tribute to the many incredible women leading the East Coast cannabis industry, which you can read here. The spread represents formidable brands in the space such as Women Grow, Humble Bloom, Cannaclusive, On The Revel, TribeTokes, House of Puff, Rebelle, Her Highness and more. With concept and production by Honeysuckle’s founder Ronit Pinto, photography and video by Honeysuckle’s Creative Director Sam C. Long, and art direction by Geraldine Hessler of Rebelle, the shoot was a perfect amalgamation of visions.

"It's an honor to be recognized for a campaign that showcases the strength of women leaders in the cannabis industry," Ronit Pinto commented. "We wanted this story to represent the dynamic power, diversity, and multifaceted brilliance of women heading up the cannabis space, particularly as the East Coast becomes one of the world's fastest growing markets. Cannabis relies on female energy of all kinds. I'm glad that we could capture that through Honeysuckle's lens of artistry and innovation, with a little sexiness mixed in, of course. Thanks to the Clios for recognizing artists and creators in this space!”

"Empress State" title page: Concept and production by Ronit Pinto @honey_ronit, images and layout by Sam C. Long @tissuekulture, words by Jaime Lubin @jaimelubin (C) Honeysuckle Media, Inc.

A full list of Clio Cannabis Award winners can be seen here. Supporting sponsors of the event were Canopy Growth Corporation and Mac Murray & Shuster LLP. Cannabis Insurance Wholesalers, Hippo Premium Packaging, and Receptor Brands sponsored this year’s Best of 420 Award. Honeysuckle was proud to be a Clio Cannabis Awards partner along with MJ Unpacked, the National Cannabis Industry Association, and the Cannabis Marketing Association.

To learn more about the Clio Cannabis Awards, visit cliocannabisawards.com. For more on MJ Unpacked, visit mjunpacked.com.

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Featured image: Honeysuckle's "Empress State" photo shoot, featuring women leaders of the East Coast Cannabis Industry, won a Bronze Clio at the 2022 Clio Cannabis Awards. Concept and production by Ronit Pinto @honey_ronit, photography and video by Sam C. Long @tissuekulture, art direction by Geraldine Hessler @geraldinehessler (C) Honeysuckle Media, Inc.