A New York cannabis dispensary just tricked several news outlets and social media users into believing that its pigeons would be delivering weed throughout the city on their backs.
The Travel Agency, based in downtown Brooklyn, revealed the supposed winged shipping initiative in an Instagram post on Oct. 1. The store has amassed a substantial following on the Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) (FRA: FB2A) mobile app with over 23,000 followers.
“As The Travel Agency, it’s only natural we’d explore all modalities of travel for our delivery service,” the retailer said on its website. “And being in NYC, we thought there’s no better courier than the truest New Yorker: a pigeon.”
Each bird was supposedly going to be equipped with a backpack that could fit up to 1 gram of product. Flights were allegedly going to begin in 2026. The company claimed to have hired a so-called professional pigeon trainer and said the program had even earned a humane animal treatment certification.
“We are going to be using carrier pigeons to deliver to our customers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens,” said Jeff, the bird specialist at the pot shop. “We give them a specific address and they come back here to the coop.”
Jeff claimed to be training the 20 birds from the fleet by taking them on walks throughout the various delivery routes. He said “they have a homing device in their head” when asked how they would know where to go.
“We do have to instruct the customers to keep their windows open though,” he added.
However, despite the humorous and intriguing nature of the marijuana carrier pigeon program, it was later confirmed to be merely an elaborate marketing ploy. The New York Post and Marijuana Moment both received credible information that it was really just an advertising ruse.
Nonetheless, the dispensary’s announcement managed to upset an animal activist in the state. A representative from a New York Pigeon sanctuary, Megan Walton, did not find it to be as amusing as many others.
“I just don’t see the humour in putting pigeons in the centre of a campaign like this, to almost mock the fact that they used to be so heavily exploited,” she told the New York Post.
But, despite Walton’s lack of enthusiasm, certain U.S. residents still thought it was one of the most humorous media campaigns they had ever come across.
“This is the funniest fkn thing I’ve seen ever,” commented a stoner in Ohio.
“Them birds are gonna join with a flock of bird homies and fly to Jersey lmao,” one Reddit Inc (NYSE: RDDT) user said.
Project Pigeon flight checklist: Pack tiny bags ✅ Play Rocky music ✅ Give pigeon pep talk ✅ Find out if Project Pigeon is real ❌
🎬 Everett Ravens (https://t.co/zia8yHwJuY)#pigeons #cannabisculture #weedtwt pic.twitter.com/XkQ93SHe6z— The Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store (@travelagencyco) October 8, 2025
