SAN DIEGO — Never underestimate the marketing innovation of today’s youth.
A 9-year-old Girl Scout in California discovered a strategic spot to sell cookies -- in front of the Urbn Leaf marijuana dispensary in San Diego, The San Diego-Union Tribune reported.
The girl and her father, whose identities are not being revealed, said they sold 312 boxes of cookies in a few hours during Super Bowl weekend, KGTV reported. The girl did not set up on the property of the dispensary, but was in plain view of the building, KGTV reported.
So customers craving Thin Mints, S'mores or Samoas had a convenient place to buy them.
However, the dispensary posted a photo on Instagram showing the girl with boxes of cookies in front of the business.
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“Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4 p.m.! Have a friend that wants to #tagalong? Bring them with -- shopping is more fun with friends anyways," the company wrote on the Instagram post. "GSC" refers to a product flavored like Girl Scout Cookies, KGTV reported.
California has legalized recreational marijuana for sale and consumption, but selling the cookies outside a dispensary has drawn criticism with some calling it bad parenting, the Union-Tribune reported.
A spokesman for the Girl Scouts said there are rules for selling cookies outside businesses. Mary Doyle, the organization’s communications director, told the Union-Tribune in a statement that Girl Scouts can set up booths outside businesses if they get a permit from the owner and sell between Feb. 9 and March 11. She added that a marijuana dispensary is not an approved site for booth sales.
But since the girl had cookies loaded in a rolling cart, was staying on the sidewalk and was accompanied by an adult, she was technically within the rules, Alison Bushan, a spokeswoman for Girl Scouts San Diego, told the Union-Tribune.
"So if that's what they say they were doing … then they were right within the rules," Bushan told KGTV.
Bushan said Girl Scouts can only sell cookies on “walk-abouts” in neighborhoods. Urbn Leaf is located in a commercial zone, the Union-Tribune reported.