While Snoop Dogg’s “Giving Up Smoke” campaign for Solo Brands went viral online last year, it did little to boost the company’s sales.
In mid-November, the Long Beach native dropped a bombshell, revealing that he was “giving up smoke,” which we all assumed meant he was no longer smoking weed. “Please respect my privacy at this time," he added.
A few days later, it turned out that he had fooled us all and his emotional announcement was actually part of a campaign for a smokeless firepit.
"I have an announcement," Snoop said in a video shared to social media. "I'm giving up smoke. I know what you're thinking. 'Snoop! Smoke is kind of your whole thing.' But I'm done with it. I'm done with the coughing and my clothes smelling all sticky-icky. I'm going smokeless. Solo Stove fixed fire—they took out the smoke. Clever."
Now it seems that Solo Stove and Solo Brands’ other brands—like Chubbies, Oru Kayak, and Isle—didn’t hit their sales projections following Snoop’s ad. According to The Daily, Solo Brands has parted ways with its former president CEO, and director of the board, John Merris, and hired former Vista Outdoor CEO Christopher Metz instead.
Snoop’s marketing campaign was indeed a hit, with Ad Age ranking it at No. 18 on its list of 40 best ads of 2023. Merris also shared that the ad led to around 60,000 new followers on Solo Brands’ social media accounts.
But the ad didn’t help the bottom line. Solo anticipated making between $520 to $540 million in 2024, with those projections dropping to $490 million to $500 million.
At least Uncle Snoop is still smoking weed.
