With this week being Black Friday, we’re surrounded once again by bold claims, loud offers and the constant pressure to buy more. It’s the biggest day of the year for retail — the Super Bowl of marketing.
But in 2011, Patagonia did something no one expected.
That year, on Black Friday, they ran a full-page ad in the New York Times featuring a photo of one of their best-selling jackets. Underneath it, in bold type, were the words:
DON’T BUY THIS JACKET
Readers were stunned. Why would a company discourage people from buying a product on the biggest shopping day of the year? Because they were committed to something deeper than sales.
The ad explained the environmental cost of producing a single jacket — the water used, the energy required and the long-term impact on the planet. It encouraged customers to pause and ask if they truly needed another one. If they didn’t, Patagonia told them not to purchase anything at all.
It was the opposite of everything brands do on Black Friday. And yet, the following year, Patagonia’s sales grew by nearly 30 percent. Not because the ad was clever, but because the company was honest.
Consumers trust brands that lead with values, not volume. They follow clarity, consistency and humility, especially when the message goes against the grain.
At Bark, we use our Bark ONE model to help organizations uncover and communicate that kind of clarity. When your story is rooted in what you genuinely believe, your voice rises above the noise. You no longer need to outshout everyone; you simply need to speak with honestly, clarity and purpose.
This Black Friday, amidst all the noise, Patagonia’s message still echoes loudly, not because it demanded attention, but because it earned it.
