You Are Not What You Buy
Patagonia's "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign
A few weeks ago everyone was in a kerfuffle about Patagonia’s Black Friday campaign. Gawker called it “sanctimonious” and AdWeek claimed that, like any “environmental appeal from a big corporation,” it is “hyporcritical.” In Kendra Pierre-Louis’ excellent article for The Urban Times, she argues that critics are missing the point. Patagonia’s Common Thread’s Initiative is not about selling more products, it is about making high quality clothing that lasts long and has low environmental impact. This is the crux of eco-fashion.
IQ Cleaner recently came out with a viral video ad campaign that has a similar message to Patagonia’s. Similar but not the same. Have a look.
The first time I watched this video I had no idea what it was. I was moved. A little bit. The words resonated with my environmentalist consciousness and the music lifted my soul up to the heavens. But the second he said “But do I?” I came tumbling back to earth, right where I should be. I am tempted to begin a tirade on how corporate greenwashing is ruining individuality and innovative thought. But this ad is not really greenwashing, it’s just advertising.
In the analysis that follows, it is difficult to separate the companies and products from the brand image presented in the advertisements. I hope to provide a critique of the cultural phenomena that allows for these advertisements rather than a critique of the companies themselves.
Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative and iQ Cleaner’s viral advertisement represent two ways of forming a brand image. Patagonia builds brand ethos to garner support and IQ Cleaner arouses audience pathos to encourage spending. Those are probably unfamiliar words. Let me explain “ethos” and “pathos” by looking closer at the campaigns.
Patagonia has put their full weight behind the Common Threads Initiative because it promotes planet friendly living and builds a brand image that we can participate in without having to buy their product. They are not telling people what to buy or how much to buy, they are simply suggesting that we buy less. Patagonia knows that, at the end of the day, we are still going to buy stuff; sometimes because we need it, sometimes because we just want it. They are encouraging us to rethink the latter so that we take extra care when we buy things that we need. They are leaving the decision to buy in our hands, while they construct a brand image that is earth friendly, economical, and sustainable. Patagonia’s campaign focuses on what we can do together for the environment. This is Patagonia’s ethos, its character. Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative focuses building a brand ethos that we can participate in.
iQ Cleaner‘s advertisement, on the other hand, attempts to inspire us to buy their product through manipulating our emotions. This is pathos. Pathos arguments evoke the emotions of the audience to make a point. You probably noticed that this advertisement does not mention the product they are selling at all. We are not told that it is an advertisement until we see a link to the iQ Facebook page at the end. The trite, pity poetry set against the dramatic music and evocative images is designed to make us feel bad. And just incase that wasn’t enough, it ends in doubt, “But do I?” iQ Cleaner’s advertisement attempts to build a brand identity by associating their product with the deep emotional stirrings of a transcendent, sublime, and insurmountable image of the planet and humanity.
iQ's Green Cleaning Products
To summarize, here are the two advertisements. Patagonia says: the planet is fragile and massive consumption damages it. We should build better clothing and buy less. We build excellent clothing. Patagonia lets us make the connection between how to buy less and their product. At the end of the day, buying less means buying Patagonia. Contradictory, but that is what they’re going for. IQ Cleaner says: the planet is fragile and we are destroying it. We should use planet friendly products to assuage our guilt for damaging the planet and oppressing third world countries. IQ Cleaner makes planet friendly products.
The contrast between these two advertising approaches comes from the way that we, as a culture, view ourselves. Patagonia suggests that we can have an effect on the environment by participating in its protection. Patagonia’s campaign draws on the notion of humans as citizens of the planet. IQ Cleaner suggests that we can have an effect on the environment by buying products that support its protection. IQ Cleaner’s campaign draws on the notion of humans as consumers of the planet.
At a fundamental level, if we view ourselves as consumers and believe that our ability to effect change rests in our wallets, we will never have a real impact on our culture or the environment. The problem with leaving social change up to “the invisible hand” is that we are expected to continue to buy; our citizenship is relegated to our bank accounts. The primacy of “consumer” over “citizen” is what has led young people to view their online identities as “brands” rather than personalities. If we identify as “brands” and “consumers,” we limit our societal participation to our ability to spend, and those without money are disenfranchised.
AdWeek thinks that Patagonia’s advertisement is hypocritical because, in the end, all advertisement exists to sell product. But the reason Patagonia can get away with this campaign, in my opinion, is that this campaign does not treat their customers like consumers. Patagonia’s campaign builds a brand ethos where customers are citizens of the planet rather than consumers of it. I am not opposed to either company or their product, but I am opposed to the image of our culture in these advertisements. Buy or don’t buy whatever you want. Shop conscientiously. Repair your clothing. Use eco-friendly cleaners. But whatever you do remember:
you do not have a brand, you have a personality; you are not a consumer, you are a citizen.
You're right on Scott.
Excellent article, Scott! Wow. The poignancy of your ending quote is just what the doctor ordered. Thank you for your intelligent analysis of these ad campaigns and how their very existance is a real calling for us to think deeply about how we live. I would love to hear/read more about consumerism and living lightly on the planet! I wish there were more local businesses operating with the integrity of the principles in your wonderful ending quote! Thanks again for a great piece!
Thanks Eve!
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