Patagonia: The Paradox of an Eco-Conscious Company
English —
Unit 43
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| 2s | Don't buy this jacket. Their words, not |
| 7s | min. On Black Friday, 2011, Patagonia ran |
| 12s | a full-page ad in The New York Times |
| 14s | with a strong call-to-action: don't buy |
| 17s | their stuff. Through this unabashed |
| 19s | anti-consumerist sentiment, the |
| 21s | advertisement revealed a recent trend |
| 23s | within the outdoor apparel industry of |
| 25s | cultivating a more environmentally |
| 27s | friendly and morally grounded image, a |
| 30s | trend which Patagonia, an apparel company |
| 33s | born in the mountains in the 1970s, seems |
| 36s | to be spearheading. However, the |
| 39s | environmentalist messages of Patagonia |
| 41s | and its outdoor apparel can reveal a |
| 43s | paradox intrinsic to ecologically |
| 46s | conscious corporations. More product |
| 49s | sales means more growth for the company, |
| 51s | but increasing sales also means an |
| 54s | increase in physical waste and emissions |
| 56s | from creating packaging and shipping |
| 58s | products. Essentially, the outdoor |
| 61s | industry's success means a decline in the |
| 63s | very nature that its customers seek to |
| 66s | experience and that companies claim to |
| 68s | protect. I want to dig into this paradox |
| 71s | with Patagonia as an example. By |
| 73s | positioning itself as anti-consumerist |
| 76s | and pro-environment, Patagonia managed to |
| 78s | increase its revenue by 40 percent just |
| 81s | two years after running that ad. So let's |
| 84s | go back to Patagonia's Don't Buy This |
| 86s | Jacket ad to understand exactly how the |
| 88s | company crafts its eco-conscious message. |
| 91s | The full-page ad is simple yet effective in |
| 95s | delineating Patagonia's core principles, |
| 97s | along with the bold "Don't Buy This |
| 99s | Jacket" text that separates the ad from |
| 101s | other pleas for consumption. The |
| 103s | paragraphs below provide a real argument |
| 106s | for forgoing the purchase of outdoor gear. |
| 108s | Patagonia claims the R2 jacket's |
| 111s | journey from its origin as sixty percent |
| 114s | recycled polyester to their Reno |
| 116s | warehouse generated nearly twenty pounds |
| 119s | of carbon dioxide, twenty-four times the |
| 121s | weight of its finished product. The ad |
| 123s | then goes on to say that the jacket |
| 125s | comes with an environmental cost higher |
| 127s | than its price, |
| 128s | as well as, don't buy what you don't need. |
| 131s | Think twice before you buy anything. More |
| 134s | recently Patagonia rolled out its Worn |
| 136s | Wear campaign centered around embracing |
| 139s | old repaired clothes. Patagonia frames |
| 141s | ripped up jackets as apparel with |
| 144s | stories. The campaign is multifaceted. A |
| 147s | worn wear biodiesel truck tours |
| 150s | the country repairing Patagonia |
| 152s | enthusiasts; clothes while videos reveal |
| 154s | funny and emotional stories about |
| 157s | 25-year-old board shorts that have been |
| 159s | sewn and resewn countless times. |
| 161s | Patagonia boasts the largest apparel |
| 164s | repair facility in North America with 45 |
| 167s | employees and the company's CEO |
| 169s | argues that repairing clothes is a |
| 171s | radical environmental act. Throughout the |
| 173s | marketing campaign and the company's |
| 175s | culture as a whole, Patagonia seems to be |
| 178s | committed to the durable and the |
| 180s | long-lasting, encouraging its customers |
| 182s | to forego purchases and embrace the old. |
| 185s | In its mission statement, ads, and Worn |
| 188s | Wear campaign, Patagonia firmly positions |
| 190s | itself as anti-consumerist and |
| 192s | pro-environment. |
| 193s | However, as many customers have pointed |
| 196s | out online, there's a certain hypocrisy |
| 198s | buried in the style of branding. Its |
| 201s | marketing campaigns certainly don't make |
| 203s | the company an environmental savior. It |
| 205s | still capitalizes on the worn-in |
| 207s | aesthetic with $29 Wes Anderson-esque |
| 211s | repair kits and brings in 600 million |
| 214s | dollars in revenue annually. Patagonia |
| 216s | brands itself as anti-consumerist with |
| 219s | ads, yet as a for-profit company, its very |
| 222s | existence is reliant on consumption. |
| 225s | Despite this contradiction that belies |
| 227s | the company, at its core Patagonia, still |
| 230s | runs an environmentally progressive |
| 232s | business, a model that other outdoor |
| 234s | apparel companies can and should learn |
| 236s | from, but also one that customers should |
| 238s | understand. Anti-consumerist ads and |
| 241s | pro-environment campaigns from |
| 243s | for-profit companies can sometimes err |
| 245s | on the side of greenwashing, so it's |
| 248s | important that customers understand both |
| 250s | the advantages and limitations of this |
| 253s | kind of corporate activism. While |
| 255s | Patagonia's efforts to use recycled |
| 257s | materials in their clothing is admirable |
| 260s | and necessary, |
| 261s | it doesn't mean that you should go ahead |
| 263s | and buy 10 R2 jackets you will |
| 265s | probably never use. How then do we |
| 268s | navigate an industry where the very |
| 270s | jacket we buy is harming the |
| 272s | environments we want to use it for? There |
| 274s | is no silver bullet solution. It involves |
| 277s | both thoughtful choices on the company's |
| 279s | side as well as the consumer's. Patagonia |
| 281s | has positioned itself in the right |
| 283s | direction in terms of environmental |
| 285s | ethics, donating a hundred percent of its |
| 288s | 10 million dollar revenue from Black |
| 290s | Friday in 2016 to grassroots charities |
| 293s | or by simply accepting and repairing |
| 295s | decades-old gear. The onus also falls on |
| 299s | us, the consumers, but right now as people |
| 302s | who still need shoes to climb rocks or |
| 304s | packs to camp under the stars, we should |
| 307s | keep in mind that clothes and gear have |
| 309s | a life before and after we buy them. So buy |
| 312s | slow, buy smart, or sometimes just don't |
| 315s | buy at all. Hey, thanks for watching. Just |
| 323s | real quick, if you go and click on the |
| 325s | Patreon link over here or over here |
| 327s | somewhere you'll be brought to a page |
| 329s | where you can donate or support my video- |
| 332s | making endeavors and in return I'll send |
| 334s | you a handwritten thank you note or cool |
| 337s | stickers or even put your name at the |
| 339s | end of all my videos. That's about it, |
| 342s | that's my announcement, but I will see |
| 344s | you next week. Bye. |