Shreddies’ “wheat dispensary” is more than just a play on words. It hopes to capitalize on the ubiquity of cannabis dispensaries to connect the Shreddies brand to consumers in unexpected ways.

The campaign began on May 23 with digital ads teasing the opening of its wheat dispensary in Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood, one of many in the city that has had cannabis stores open up at a rapid rate in the last year. The ads referred to Shreddies as “the original edible” and promoted the breakfast hours of “7:20” instead of 420 to get people to visit the pop-up storefront, which opened on June 9 and ran through the weekend. It will reopen between June 16 and 19.

While some cereals, especially the more sugar-loaded ones, might be thought of by some as a stereotypical “stoner” snack, parent company Post Consumer Brands Canada doesn’t have any market research or insight to suggest that Shreddies or any of its other brands are actually among them.

Rather, the goal of the campaign is to grab attention in the crowded cereal market, particularly among younger generations of adults. Embedding the brand into the cultural zeitgeist is an effective way to drive affinity among this target, according to Amy Bernstein, senior brand manager, Post Consumer Brands Canada.

“With dispensaries on every corner, cannabis has become a part of everyday life in Canada,” says Bernstein. “We saw an opportunity to jump into this cultural moment by showing Canadians a new, unexpected kind of dispensary, one that would help fuel their day.”

The Shreddies brand, Bernstein says, has been a part of Canadian breakfasts for 80 years and is Post Canada’s largest brand, making it an easy choice to be the focus of the campaign.

The dispensary plays with many conventions of cannabis retail, such as different Shreddies flavours presented alongside “strain cards” that describe the benefits of having the Honey or Oatmeal varieties. The website for the dispensary even has a pop-up emulating the age gating seen on websites from cannabis brands.

As the AOR, Publicis handled the creative, with digital media buying by Media Monks and OOH by Spark Foundry. Assets on owned social platforms will be amplified with paid media.

Post also has a media partnership with BlogTo to extend the reach of its campaign, which will include paid partnerships with Toronto influencers who will promote the pop-up, according to Bernstein. PR was handled by Craft Public Relations.