Kiva Confections Presents 'High History' for Stoners

Benjamin Franklin was high as a kite when he discovered electricity.

YouTube star Chris Klemens offers that stoner take on one of our Founding Fathers in the premiere episode of "High History," a snackable IGTV content series from cannabis brand Kiva Confections (one of three Grand Clio winners at last year's Clio Cannabis Awards).

Klemens gets toasted on Kiva's 20mg Terra Bites and then lets fly, as it were, in what amounts to a giggly if factually dubious product demo:

In a format that clearly owes a debt to Comedy Central's Drunk History, Kiva's Michael Guffey introduces each of five episodes while lounging in an armchair. He shows some leg and rocks a pipe, too. (Not a hash pipe, though.)

Comedian Rachel Wolfson and influencer Ira Madison III appear in upcoming installments, as we see in this trailer:

As cannabis continues to go mainstream, brands like Kiva and Heavy Hitters (celebrating their 10th and 25th birthdays, respectively) are taking promotional cues from pop-culture tropes.

"The incorporation of humor was a natural step," and the history-lesson setup offered fertile comic ground, Kiva creative director Rebecca Nelson tells Muse. "Our supporters, customers and patients are serious about cannabis as a medicine, but playful and open about cannabis use and the fun ways they enjoy our products."

"High History" represents "a thank you for supporting us throughout the past decade, as well as a humble approach to welcome new audiences to the world of cannabis-infused edibles," she says.

Episodes will drop on the @madebykiva IGTV channel through year's end. Klemens, Wolfson and Madison—cannabis advocates and true fans of Kiva edibles—will also share episodes in their feeds. Cinestone's Logan Stone directed, while social agency Narrative Group assisted with development.

"There was a lot of improvisation and creative liberty taken by the comedians," Nelson says. "The talent was greeted on set with a smorgasbord of Kiva edibles. The takes that made the final cuts were mostly clips filmed when each talent was at the pinnacle of their high."

You might say they were as high as kites. *giggles*

"Cannabis marketing comes with challenges beyond any other industry. We have varying degrees of regulations state to state, strict age targets, and with cannabis still federally illegal, most networks and social media platforms cannot accept our marketing dollars," Nelson says.

"For so much of what we are not allowed to say on our owned or paid channels, influencers and budtenders—the specialists who work in dispensaries—have free rein to speak about cannabis and product effects to consumers, so we rely heavily on their support as an industry."

CREDITS

Production Co.: Cinestone
Executive Producer: Rebecca Nelson
Director: Logan Stone
Cast: Chris Klemens, Ira Madison III, Rachel Wolfson, Michael Guffey
DP: Derek Fisher
AC: Dima Shorin
Gaffer: Paul Deorio
Audio: Stephen Herrod
Associate Producer: Christie Strong
Narrative Group: Brooklyn Allan, John Hassen, Rachel Theburge, Spencer Sloan