Patagonia

 http://www.patagonia.com/email/11/112811.html


My family has received Patagonia magazines and purchased Patagonia products for as long as I can remember. Recently, in my Human Resources class, we looked into Patagonia as a business; their morals, their ethics, what makes them and their employees tick etc. One of the things that stood out most about the company, which I previously knew, is that they are extremely green. Our focus, as a class, was the recruiting techniques of the company which, interestingly enough, are none. Patagonia has done such a wonderful job advertising their brand, both literately and figuratively, that more people apply to the company than they could possibly use.

In order to figure out how exactly Patagonia did this, we looked into their advertising. This advertisement, which reads "Don't Buy This Jacket", seems to be the antithesis of what an advertisement is supposed to do; get customers to buy the product the company is selling. However, Patagonia is serious! Keeping true to their green, sustainable promises, Patagonia actually urges customers not to buy things that they don't need, even if it is their own product.

To me, this ad shows loyalty to belief; Patagonia does not just say they believe in sustainability, they prove it. I would be curious, however, to see other business' take on this strategy as well as customers. Do people think it is genuine? Or do people think it is still a business ploy?