Intuit Does Not Advance NORML in Super Bowl Ad Contest

Today, Intuit announced the 20 finalists who moved on to Round 3 of their “Small Business, Big Game” contest. Despite finishing first in the initial round of public voting (Intuit removed the ability to sort by vote popularity during the second round) and generating hundreds of media hits through Round 2, Intuit, for reasons not communicated to NORML, decided not to advance our entry to the latest round in the contest.

(NOTE: Intuit had opened the contest up to non-profit organizations, which NORML is. We also met their requirements in both staff and budget for being a “small business”)

“It is unfortunate that Intuit seems to be relying more on outdated political values instead of overwhelming public opinion when it comes to selecting which entries advanced in their contest,” noted NORML Communications Director Erik Altieri, “As demonstrated by the outpouring of support and positive media coverage for our entry, the country was ready and eager to see an ad for sensible marijuana law reforms during the most watched TV program of the year. This could’ve been a win for all groups involved, but instead Intuit will likely have only generated ill will for itself amongst the 58% of Americans who now support ending our country’s war on marijuana.”

Though NORML has been excluded from Round 3 of the contest, our entry was covered by countless media outlets across the country. You can view a list of some of these media stories below:

1. Fox Business Network
2. Fox Business Network Part 2
3. East Bay Express
4. Cleveland.com
5. Digital Journal
6. NY Daily News
7. USA Today
8. Advertising Age
9. TIME
10. Huffington Post
11. Seattle Pi
12. Business Week
13. CNBC
14. AOL (video also aired on local news stations)
15. Inquisitr
16. Death and Taxes
17. The Weed Blog
18. Sports Illustrated
19. Brand Channel
20. The Daily Chronic
21. Think Progress
22. KTVB (Local Broadcast Idaho)
23. WHAS11 (Broadcast Channel Kentucky)
24. Reason
25. Democrat and Chronicle
26. SportsGrid
27. DownTrend
28. The Tennessean
29. Courier Journal
30. Medical Daily
31. HNGN
32. Opposing Views
33. Leafly
34. Newsbusters
35. Marshfield News Herald
36. Stevens Point Journal
37. WebProNews
38. Elite Daily
39. NewsMax
40. DrugFree.org
41. Celebrity Cafe
42. UPI

NORML would like to thank all of those who supported us in this effort. Thanks to your passion, Super Bowl Ad or not, we still took the message of legalization across the country and generated substantial conversation on this important issue. As PR expert Peter Madden stated on our entry to USA Today, even without an ultimate victory in the contest, NORML already won big. “This isn’t PR gold,” Madden stated, “It’s PR platinum.”

Article republished from NORML