How ‘National CBD Day’ Became a Thing

Note it on your calendar: Thursday, August 8, marks the second annual observance of National CBD Day.

Wait, is National CBD Day really a thing? If it’s a thing, how did it become a thing?

For decades now cannabis enthusiasts have marched, rallied, and gotten elevated on April 20, better known as 4/20, an event that started as an after-school weed-smoking break in the 1970s for a group of California high school students, and which evolved into an annual international celebration of all things cannabis.

For the past seven years or so, meanwhile, some people have latched on to  July 10, or 7/10, as Cannabis Oil Day, a day to give thanks for cannabis oils and extracts. The holiday’s date originated when somebody noticed that the number 710 looks like the word “OIL” when viewed upside down.

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Not exactly spontaneous…

“National CBD Day” is August 8, but it has nothing to do with 8/8. Which, if you turn it on its side, is infinity divided by infinity.

It turns out that National CBD Day is not the result of impromptu merrymaking. In 2017 a North Carolina-based cannabidiol (CBD) manufacturer known as cbdMD applied to have “National CBD Day” added to the calendar. How do you do that? You state your case to National Day Calendar, a North Dakota-based firm that promotes old and new national holidays via old and new media sources.

“We have a process where companies or individuals can suggest a new national day,” Marlo Anderson, the founder and CEO of National Day Calendar, told Leafly.

The company has a form on its website where individuals or companies can apply for the creation of a new national day, week or month.

Committee Approval Required

Anderson said his group gets about 20,000 applications a year for new holidays. “We have a four-person committee that goes through those (applications),” he added, “and if they get unanimous approval then it moves forward.”

The committee discussed cbdMD’s application, and voted it in. A 2018 press release heralding the new holiday said the popularity of CBD (cannabidiol) “has quickly swept the nation, prompting experts to finally acknowledge the significance of the all-natural supplement.”

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Happy Marketing Day

These new holidays are often created with brand awareness in mind. According to National Day Calendar’s company website, the benefits of  having a new national day, week or month “include news stories, increase in product sales, market visibility, social media engagement, fundraising opportunities for non-profits, brand authority and much more can be generated annually.”

About 20,000 media outlets follow National Day Calendar, and Anderson said he expects National CBD Day to catch on.  Come Thursday, August 8, he said, “I’m sure there will be many morning talk shows that will talk about (CBD).”

Make a Thing, Get People to Celebrate It

So is National CBD Day just a way to introduce new customers to CBD products, via a new, consumer-driven holiday?

“What holiday isn’t?” said Anderson, who noted that nearly every holiday has been “made up.”

“If you get enough people who want to celebrate it,” he added, “it becomes something.”

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Anderson’s mindset has been validated by CBD companies, many of which are offering product discounts on August 8.

While none of these prefabricated holidays have yet become official, banks-are-closed national holidays, Anderson said his company expects about 100 million people to be aware of this year’s National CBD Day.

And he observed that some of the celebrations his company has helped create are bigger than some national holidays.

“Try to find a donut on Donut Day, for example,” he said.