Mother Nature isn’t just sweeping vistas, sunshine, and blue skies. Those venturing into the outdoors may encounter unpredictable weather or wildlife, like the occasional ravenous vulture.
So says Columbia Sportswear in its first brand relaunch in a decade. In its new ad—the brand’s first work from agency adam&eveDDB—what starts as an idyllic hike or camping trip soon descends into chaos, with pesky vultures, aggressive snakes, stormy skies, avalanches, a surprise bear, and even the Grim Reaper showing up along the way.
Aron Ralston, the mountaineer who amputated his own arm to survive a canyoneering accident, also makes a darkly comedic cameo in the ad.
Columbia went for an over-the-top and irreverent tone to introduce the tagline, “Engineered for Whatever.” The scenes mix live action and animation, while the soundtrack is a thrash metal cover of Irving Berlin’s classic “Blue Skies,” previously sung by Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.
The point is to defy tropes and stand out in the crowded outdoor apparel category, where “everything has started to look the same: wide-sweeping vistas, overly serious models, beautifully pristine landscapes,” said Matt Sutton, Columbia’s head of marketing.
“We’ve always poked fun at ourselves and the outdoor industry,” he continued. “We wanted to double down on our history as a challenger, to bring back humor and irreverence… for people to see our advertising and actually laugh.”
Columbia also wants to draw in younger audiences who took up outdoor activities for the first time during the pandemic, when “the category exploded,” said Sutton.
The outdoor apparel industry’s global market size is estimated to grow by $7.3 billion by 2029, according to market research firm Technavio.
