BRIDGET O'HARA

For years, Black Friday has been a holiday almost more momentous than Thanksgiving itself for thrifty shoppers and bargain finders. Americans knock down doors and cause stampedes at Best Buys (literally) to get their hands on holiday deals. The self-proclaimed “holiday” not only promotes somewhat un-extraordinary sales, but it creates a convention of consumerism that the country has fallen prey to. Many stores have even started opening on Thanksgiving Day to draw in more shoppers, in turn pulling people away from quality family time.

While many stores bask in the glory of Black Friday, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) has turned its back on the holiday. To combat this era of consumerism, the corporation has created the #OptOutside campaign, closing its doors on Black Friday and urging shoppers to go outside instead. The campaign asks people to share their outside activities on social media platforms with their hashtag to show others how they are spending their Black Fridays. By using social media to construct an appealing image of the environment, REI’s campaign has become not only an incredibly effective marketing strategy for their own products, but also an uplifting advocate for environmental awareness and engagement.

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY: Stepping Away from the Black Friday “Norm” 

The #OptOutside campaign ranges across many media platforms, pressuring REI’s audiences not to give into consumerism, and instead to spend time outside. Through videos, Instagram, blog posts, and more, REI members and followers are exposed to expansive landscape shots emblazoned with the hashtag, reminding them of the benefits of spending time outdoors this Black Friday. REI President and CEO Jerry Stritzke explains how, as a co-op, REI does not just define success as how much they sell, but more as “how effectively do [they] get people outside?” (Malcolm, 2015).

The store is taking even further steps to promote “going out with them”; not only are all 143 store locations’ doors closed, but their 12,000 employees are still paid (“Will you go out with us?”, 2016; Chokshi, 2015). The extra pay is meant to give employees even more incentive to spend the day exploring nature. Staff members are thankful for this opportunity: employee Jessie Dickerson praises REI for “the chance to go out and explore what nature has to offer with [their] loved ones during the holidays” (Niggemeyer, Kennett, Carpenter, & Tolentino, 2015). CEO Stritzke explains, “We really want this to be a day when people are outdoors” (Bhattarai, 2017). While he at first was nervous to start the campaign because he was worried about the public’s reactions, Stritzke soon realized that “it doesn’t matter what the public thinks”, and that it is more important that REI upholds what it stands for, giving families time outside (Niggemeyer, Kennett, Carpenter, & Tolentino, 2015). REI’s separation from societal pressures to give in to consumerism puts them a step ahead of other organizations, who have not yet moved away from the norm.

The campaign, which started in 2015, has started to pick up speed and spread to other organizations and areas, showing its overall influence. Over 700 organizations followed REI in closing their doors on Black Friday (REI - #OptOutside Case Study, 2016). Many government agencies not only became a part of the social media campaign, but also decided to open their parks up for free (Chokshi, 2015). Both Tennessee and Arizona paired with REI, with store locations handing out free day-passes for state parks (Chokshi, 2015). Delaware and Oregon both waived park fees for Black Friday, and Kansas even named REI in announcing a contest for a free overnight stay in a state park cabin, encouraging people to “take a break, get out, and enjoy some fresh air” (Chokshi, 2015). Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri have all opened up a number of their parks for free as well (Chokshi, 2015). All of these actions are promoting REI’s attempt to take what USA Today reports as a “direct aim at the frenzied consumerism that dominates the holidays with a message to do the exact opposite of what Black Friday demands” (Malcolm, 2015). The spreading of this incentive shows the success that the campaign has had in gaining traction and support.

CONSTRUCTION: The Environment as a Haven for Community

The multitude of platforms that this campaign appears upon allows REI to create a vision of the environment that is engaging and attractive to viewers. It is clear that the strategy has been effective just from the numbers: the campaign started trending quickly after it was released, and had 2.7 million PR impressions within 24 hours (REI - #OptOutside Case Study, 2016). REI’s social media mentions rose by an incredible 7,000% (REI - #OptOutside Case Study, 2016). Altogether, the hashtag earned over 6.7 billion media impressions and inspired 7 million people to opt outside (REI - #OptOutside Case Study, 2016).

Along with the popularity, the campaign represents the environment in a way that audiences connect with. In a series of promotional YouTube videos, REI contrasts consumerism and environmentalism by showing the stark visual and audio contrasts of nature and cities. The video #OptOutside: Camping Out Again is a 30-second ad that depicts various people in tents, camping in a serene environment, opposing the audio of a busy and chaotic newscast about the madness of Black Friday (#OptOutside: Camping Out Again, 2016). At the end of the clip, the radio audio cuts out, leaving only nature sounds with a beautiful wide landscape shot. This abrupt transition highlights the polarity between busy, consumerist Black Friday lives and #OptOutside lives, and makes viewers desire the calm of nature. Another video, #OptOutside: Will You Go Out With Me?, shows a montage of young, happy people packing a backpack, leaving their homes in the city, and driving to the coast or to a forest to hike, kayak, bike, or swim (#OptOutside: Will You Go Out With Me?, 2016). The video pushes people to separate themselves from a busy, bustling city life and treat themselves to time in the relaxing natural environment. Both of these videos construct the environment as a haven that people who are not participating in #OptOutside are missing out on.

Along with videos and ads, REI created a blog that allows audiences to gain a more personal, yet still informative, experience with the campaign. The Opt Outside website has options allowing visitors to plan a trip, take a class with the REI Outdoor School, or learn from outdoor expert advice. REI also created a search engine for outdoor activities, where people can search for nearby opportunities such as hiking, rowing, and rock climbing (Bhattarai, 2017). Finally, there is an Opt Outside blog, including stories ranging from the history of Opt Outside to tips for having a successful first hike. The blog adds an even more community-driven feel to the campaign, giving people the opportunity to find their own material to engage with and apply knowledge to their own experiences. This sense of community shapes the environment as a group experience, in which people will gain personal and social fulfillment.

Furthermore, and possibly the most influential, the Opt Outside hashtag allows viewers to collect all posts from other REI members and campaign participants on every form of social media. This puts all of the community’s photos, videos, and experiences in one condensed spot with easy access. With a simple swipe, people are opened up to inspiration from people all over the world, encouraging them to get outside. This creates a feeling of collective and oneness with a group, even though they may not know the people whose photos they are viewing. Even further, it adds a participation aspect, allowing people to feel as though they contributed to the cause. This is a huge driver for people to participate, allowing them to gain their own personal publicity and approval. It also allows REI to display a much larger array of environmental photos and opportunities by giving anyone the ability to contribute. This gives viewers a much better chance of consuming material that they feel personally connected to, whether it be an uncommon outdoor activity that they enjoy or a small park near their home that they are familiar with.

AGENCY: The Voice of the Audience

The entire #OptOutside campaign leaves the door open for the audience to have the agency. The term “opt” literally leaves the decision up to the consumer: they can opt to shop on Black Friday, or make the noble choice and opt outside. Once they opt outside, it is then also their decision to share their experience. When they do this, they become the voice of the campaign, adding to the media collective of experiences that other consumers will use to view the campaign. So, in turn, the audience becomes the voice of the environment. In this case, the environment is the enemy of consumerism, a theme that is generally connected to “evil” themes, such as waste, greed, and disconnection. When people choose to reject consumerism, they feel as though they are doing the “right” thing.

This campaign specifically targets young people and users of social media. This particular age group is drawn to community-based interactions, and is often targeted by marketers with images of young groups of people having experiences together, which is the basis of the Opt Outside campaign. One branch of the campaign is entirely dedicated to this, as it asks people, “Will you go out with us?” (“Will you go out with us?”, 2016). The #OptOutside: Will You Go Out With Me? video is posted with the caption: “Outdoors will be closed on [Black Friday], but we won’t be alone. Ask your favorite people to #OptOutside with you on Black Friday and we can all go out with each other” (#OptOutside: Will you go out with me?, 2016). This caption creates a feeling of “us” and community between REI and its members. The caption ensuring people that “we won’t be alone” because we will be going out “with each other” makes young viewers excited for the experience of going outside with their friends. This even further promotes active involvement in the campaign, as they as are encouraged to ask their friends to participate with them as well.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Media Campaigns as a Growing Medium for Change

With REI’s new campaign addressing young media consumers, the span of its videos, photos, and hashtags has reached greater lengths and painted an incredibly positive picture of environmentalism. This picture leaves people wishing to get involved, and therefore drives them to get outside instead of shopping on Black Friday. It makes the audience themselves the environmental actors, and therefore makes an even wider campaign than otherwise possible with just corporation resources. It has been tackling the issue of consumerism on Black Friday, but its impact spans much further than that, addressing environmental activism at the same time. Not only does this campaign effectively combat consumerism, but its use of the environment as an anti-consumerist agent also promotes environmental action and participation. This use of an attractive and easily accessible campaign with simple, yet gripping, visuals on effective mediums opens up environmentalism to an entirely new field of activism. Media campaigns promote participation of the audience, and therefore makes consumers feel involved and relevant. This type of campaign has a promising future in accelerating people’s relationships with nature. If other environmental organizations continue to use this new form of media to create active campaigns, the possibility for environmental involvement is promising. Not only can it tackle the issue of consumerism and Black Friday, but a huge array of relevant environmental issues that can make incredible change in the environmental community.