A clever marketing campaign last year nearly convinced people that Snoop Dogg was giving up his favorite pastime after a video circulated of the legendary rapper saying he was “giving up smoke.”
Days after the video clip toured the internet, it was revealed that Snoop was actually taking part in an ad campaign for Solo Stove.
“I have an announcement,” Snoop
stated in the video clip. “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.”The ad campaign-ruse did not lead to the sales the company hoped for, so CEO John Merris was terminated
and replaced, Complex reports.The company that makes Solo Stove, Solo Brands, announced it had appointed Christopher T. Metz as its new president, chief executive officer, and director of the board.
Rolling Stone reported that the interim CFO, Andrea Tarbox, gave a statement giving the reason for the change at the top.
“While our
unique marketing campaigns raised brand awareness of Solo Stove to an expanded and new audience of consumers, it did not lead to the sales lift that we had planned, which, combined with the increased marketing investments, negatively impacted our EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization]. We believe there is a significant opportunity for us to build awareness and that these new campaigns will expand our reach and benefit our brands over the long term.”The company said after the video clip went viral (over one million views), it got a boost of about 60,000 social media users, but that did not generate sales.
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