In advance of the federal government’s August 24 decision on the future of 21 national monuments — and its apparent disdain for all things nature-related — Patagonia is now airing its first-ever TV ad, and the minute-long spot offers unwavering support for public lands while taking direct aim at Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.
“Secretary Zinke has said he believes in public lands,” founder Yvon Chouinard says in the commercial, now airing in Utah and Montana (Zinke’s home state). “Let’s hold him to that.”
According to RetailDive, the spot cost the company $700,000 to make, is complete with stunning imagery from public lands, and is entirely voiced by Chouinard, who (rightly) waxes both poetic and sentimental about the value of public land, before getting downright political.
“Public lands have never been more threatened than right now, because you have a few self-serving politicians who want to sell them off and make money,” Chouinard says. “Behind the politicians are the energy companies and the big corporations that want to use up those natural resources. It’s just greed.”
Patagonia has been wading into choppy political waters for some time now, and once again, the eco-conscious brand has displayed the moral fortitude that few Republicans (and even fewer brands) have managed to muster in the past year.
Since Election Day — when they closed all stores to raise awareness about environmental issues — the retailer has donated the entirety of its Black Friday profits to “grassroots environmentalist causes,” threatened to sue the sitting president and has been an otherwise-consistent voice of opposition to the sometimes-ignorant, sometimes-malevolent stances this administration holds in regards to America’s protected land.
“This belongs to us,” Chouinard declares in the spot. “This belongs to all of the people in America. It’s our heritage.”
You can read more about it at and watch the spot at RetailDive.
