In the annals of marketing, there have been plenty of bad ideas — New Coke, a diet candy called Ayds and the Edsel.
Now comes this.
Owners of marijuana shops on Denver’s South Broadway want the area to be known as the Green Mile.
They have formed the Green Mile on Broadway Association and intend to do a national advertising campaign to “promote this little stretch of Broadway.”
However, many in the city have known the area as Denver’s Antique Row, featuring numerous quaint shops.
The owners of the pot shops say they can’t mention marijuana due to various regulations and will promote the area as a, “wink, wink,” general retail destination.
What the owners seem to not recognize is that not everyone is in love with marijuana, including, no doubt, some retailers in the area. And promoting the area by that name could, in fact, drive away customers for them.
The name itself has a disturbing origin. “The Green Mile” is what prisoners called death row in Stephen King’s book of the same name — not a particularly alluring image for a shopping district.
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