- The website for Seth Rogen's marijuana business experienced overwhelming traffic in its US launch.
- The actor and his business partner first launched the brand Houseplant in Canada in 2019.
- Houseplant is now selling pot and marijuana-related home goods in the US.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
On March 1, actor Seth Rogen announced that he'd started a marijuana company called Houseplant, and that the brand's strains would soon be available in California.
In addition to its cannabis offerings, Houseplant also sells lighters, ashtrays, and ceramic goods. On Thursday, March 11, the brand launched.
-Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) March 11, 2021
By the mid-afternoon, the Houseplant site experienced so much traffic that it crashed, and the brand set up a "waiting room" for customers looking to get access to the site.
Less than an hour later, Rogen tweeted that the site had been taken offline to get it in better shape to support all the traffic. He told fans that many of the Houseplant products were still available.
-Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) March 11, 2021
Houseplant initially launched in Canada back in May 2019. The launch on Thursday marks a move to the US market for Rogen and his longtime writing and business partner Evan Goldberg, as well as the brand's CEO Michael Mohr, a venture capitalist.
The brand sells bespoke strains of cannabis, which are packaged to look like vintage records. Rogen shared photos of a block-shaped lighter and ceramics from the brand on his social media as well.
Rogen told Architectural Digest that Houseplant is "trying to really consider people who smoke weed in a way that they have not been considered before."
"Just like alcohol has martini shakers, wine glasses, and corkscrews. If you are someone who smokes weed, there is really none of that."
A press release said that after Houseplant's launch, the brand would be releasing new products from the "Housegoods" line "every few weeks."
"We are thrilled by how insanely positive the response has been so far - we have been completely inundated with interest and requests, and our site has been overwhelmed with the amount of traffic," a Houseplant spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Insider. "We are working hard to get the website back up and running again, and will be in communication with our customers all along the way to provide the best experience possible."