Dive Brief:
- Columbia Sportswear is challenging believers in the flat Earth conspiracy theory to photograph the edge of the world and promising to give away a treasure trove of assets to the first person who does, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- In an open letter in The New York Times, Columbia CEO Tim Boyle tasks flat-earthers with venturing out to prove the planet has a definitive end, preferably while wearing the brand’s outdoor gear. Boyle also appears in social videos where he shows off all of the goods the “Expedition Impossible” winner will be entitled to.
- In addition, Columbia will dip into Reddit communities and YouTube comments to poke fun at conspiracy theorists. The campaign is meant to emphasize Columbia’s “bold, irreverent energy,” Boyle explained, and follows a major brand platform relaunch from August.
Dive Insight:
Columbia is taking a shot across the bow at conspiracy theorists with “Expedition Impossible,” a tongue-in-cheek take on social media challenges that asks flat-earthers to find the world’s edge and snap a picture as proof. Press details emphasize that the “Edge of the Earth” within the contest parameters needs to be a literal drop off point into the infinite void, not just an impressive cliff face on a local hike.
The company is putting assets valued at $100,000 on the line, inclusive of outdoor gear, office plants, mannequins and more. Boyle explains the stakes in humorous social videos where a lawyer intervenes to correct him about what the process for handing off the winnings would entail and employees act befuddled as he tries to showcase all that’s at stake.
“This is a message to Flat Earthers. I’ve seen your manifestos, admired your diagrams, watched you stand proudly on your, well, flat ground. So here’s the deal: it’s time to put your map where your mouth is,” writes Boyle in an open letter running in the Times. “Our gear is built to handle anything. So I’m inviting you to do what no one in history has ever done: find the edge of the Earth.”
Boyle’s message joins a tradition of outdoors brand executives making public statements on topical issues, albeit with a humorous twist. Taking flat-earthers to task could inspire online chatter about Columbia around the key holiday shopping period, and the brand will directly inject itself into online communities where farfetched ideas are heatedly discussed. That said, poking the conspiracy theorist bear also risks the potential for backlash from outspoken fringe types.
Conspiracy theories have increasingly bled into the cultural mainstream in an era of social media misinformation and distrust in legacy media. Flat Eartherism, in turn, has seen a 21st century resurgence, including among some celebrities, despite a surfeit of longstanding scientific and photographic evidence that the Earth is, in fact, spherical in shape.
“Expedition Impossible” is part of Columbia’s efforts to put forward bolder, conversation-starting marketing following its first brand platform relaunch in a decade. The marketer in August debuted “Engineered for Whatever,” a multiseason ad campaign that uses edgy, over-the-top humor to illustrate the toughness of its products under extreme conditions.
“Engineered for Whatever” is meant to serve as a counter to what Columbia views as overly pristine, idyllic outdoors marketing from rivals. Adam&eveDDB is the Portland, Oregon-based brand’s global agency of record and helped develop “Expedition Impossible.”
