Patagonia is launching its first-ever television advertisement.
And while an outdoor company running a TV ad isn’t anything new, the content of Patagonia’s ad is.
Patagonia is spending close to $700,000 on TV and radio buys not to pitch their newest jacket or backpack, but to raise awareness about the shifting status of the United States’ public lands, and to encourage US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to keep the 21 national monuments under review in public hands:
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Patagonia has purchased statewide television and radio time in Secretary Zinke’s home state of Montana reminding him of what he said, “our greatest treasures are public lands.” Additionally, Patagonia has purchased television and radio in Utah because Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments could be recommended to be rescinded, and Patagonia will be on the radio in Nevada where Gold Butte and Basin and Range National Monuments are also under threat.
In a statement, Patagonia President and CEO Rose Marcario said, “The national monuments under review are a critical part of our national heritage and these lands belong not just to us, but to future generations. We stand with the millions of Americans who spoke out in support of keeping protections in place for public lands. We hope Secretary Zinke will remember his roots and his words and protect these ‘national treasures.’”
Patagonia wants to raise awareness of history’s lesson that when public lands are turned over to states that can’t afford to maintain them, the result is that the land is often auctioned off to private companies who irrevocably damage them and deny access to them for all of us. Whether you are a hunter or a hiker, an angler or a climber, Patagonia wants you to join them in this fight to ensure access and protection for our public lands.
There is limited time before Secretary Zinke makes his August 24th decision on the remaining 21 national monuments, and it is Patagonia’s hope that he will follow in the tradition of President Teddy Roosevelt and conserve our shared public lands for future generations.
Previous Statements from Patagonia on the Protection of Public Lands
January 11, 2017: Yvon Chouinard Op-Ed
February 23, 2017: Piece on Linkedin By Patagonia CEO, Rose Marcario
March 9, 2017: Yvon Chouinard, Op-Ed in LA Times
March 21, 2017: statement by Rose Marcario
April 26, 2017: statement by Rose Marcario
June 12, 2017: statement by Rose Marcario