
Patagonia Stops Selling Vests To Some Finance Firms - kaboro
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/patagonia-power-vest-policy-change
======
mindgam3
Um, you guys... the PR firm that uncovered this alleged plot is called - wait
for it - “Vested”.

“Kim, president of the communications agency Vested (the reference is to the
finance term, not the sleeveless layer), attempted to place an order for a
client...”

Their website is www.fullyvested.com and their recruiting page is titled In-
Vested. Get it? In Vested.

Scroll down the article to the satirical Instagram post with a new definition
of “Divest” involving “guys named Chad.”

Announcing it yesterday would have made the prank too obvious.

Hats off to the creative director at Vested for pulling off a masterful stroke
of guerilla marketing. Now they are on the radar of tons of finance firms who
know that this firm “feels their pain,” so to speak. Well played on all
fronts.

~~~
traek
Nothing here indicates a prank to me. The Instagram post was from half a year
ago and is from an account that semi-famous in NY for making fun of finance
bros. The author just included it as an example of how the vest is associated
with finance culture.

~~~
notyourday
Midtown uniforms?

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whoisjuan
Well it's a smart move. They are simply protecting the integrity of their
brand. They built a reputation based on a set of corporate values that are not
necessarily aligned with those companies that embroider their logo in those
vests. They probably don't make a lot of money from those corporate sales
either. Any risk of damaging the brand by association is not worth it.

~~~
lamarpye
That whole April Fool's thing kinda went over your head.

~~~
whoisjuan
I think it actually went over yours (from the article):

>"A representative for Patagonia confirmed it has recently changed its policy,
but declined to say exactly when this change happened. Here is the company’s
statement:

“Our corporate sales program manages Patagonia’s sales to other companies,
non-profits and other organizations. We recently shifted the focus of this
program to increase the number of Certified B Corporations, 1% For The Planet
members and other mission-driven companies that prioritize the planet. This
shift does not affect current customers in our corporate sales program.”"

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kevin_thibedeau
Don't think I can take Ms. Notopoulos seriously when she doles out dreck like
this:

> The Power Vest flaunts a very cruel male privilege: being comfortable.

> The Power Vest is a form of male privilege, a hideous fleece totem of the
> patriarchy’s oppression of non-cis-male people in the workplace.

Seriously? It's just a vest.

[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/i-wore-...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/i-wore-
a-vest-like-jeff-bezos-for-a-week-to-see-if-id-be)

~~~
notatoad
>Don't think I can take Ms. Notopoulos seriously

i'm not entirely sure you were supposed to.

~~~
msla
Well, that's the thing, isn't it? It's Poe's Law but with reputational damage
if you guess wrong in the wrong situation. Take it seriously and it wasn't?
You're a buffoon. Take it as a joke when it's serious? You're an insensitive
asshole and a bigot, and nobody can make the case you were acting in good
faith and made a mistake.

~~~
wavefunction
The dangers of engaging with satire are very real. However the costs paid are
generally short-lived and to the open-minded and those able to find humor in
themselves, repaid in full if not in excess.

------
mikekij
I am so happy to see this. I have supported Patagonia as a consumer due to
their commitment to corporate responsibility, specifically their (more)
ethical clothing manufacturing practices.

When I’m in the Bay Area and see every private equity bro wearing a Patagonia
fleece, it makes me wonder if they are supporting the brand for the same
reason.

Ultimately it shouldn’t matter. But I’d rather be associated with the
responsibly sourced clothing brand than the financial engineering brand.

~~~
cabaalis
I find it odd that excluding religious groups is now considered good ethics.

~~~
thundergolfer
Can you explain what you're referring to with "excluding religious groups"?

~~~
javagram
The tweet in the article states that Patagonia is now excluding religious
groups
[https://twitter.com/binnaskim/status/1112731360244961283](https://twitter.com/binnaskim/status/1112731360244961283)

~~~
thundergolfer
Oh thanks for the heads up. Seems entirely reasonable to exclude religious
groups who promote anti-environmentalism.

They're not blanket excluding religious groups.

------
crushcrashcrush
Lots of finance meme accounts reflect the "Patagucci" culture of finance -
check out these - they frequently showcase "sleds" \- $300+ (frankly,
tasteless) Gucci and Ferragamo shoes that are sort of a "post-intern" status
symbol. I follow these accounts to try and have a pulse on when the next
recession will hit.

[https://www.instagram.com/hoeingforyield/](https://www.instagram.com/hoeingforyield/)
[https://www.instagram.com/finance_god/](https://www.instagram.com/finance_god/)

I could absolutely see why Patagonia wants to distance itself from these sorts
of fratty, money-focused business cultures. Same with Venture Capital.

~~~
mattrp
This thread is worth it just for the instagram links above!

~~~
mattrp
For ex.
[https://www.instagram.com/p/BvH3sS1FuPy/](https://www.instagram.com/p/BvH3sS1FuPy/)

------
munk-a
Bravo!

I hope this (and Nike with Kaepernick) is the start of a wave in society
calling companies to task over advertising shilling.

Personally, and I've expressed this numerous times, I find advertising to be
absolutely devastating on the efficiency of modern society so... let's de-
brand everything wee!

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
In Soviet utopia, only _one_ toothbrush. Very efficient, yes?

~~~
vkou
Contrary to the misconceptions of many people who have never actually lived in
the Soviet Union, there were multiple, competing brands of consumer goods, all
the way from radios, to automobiles [1] and refrigerators.

[1] Off that list, of course, automobiles were very difficult to obtain.

------
raiyu
Here we have a company that has cobranded with others in the past, but over
time there has been a sentiment shift and now it wishes to distance itself
from what this particular area of society reflects.

It's interesting because it is sort of a rebrand for Patagonia to move away
from this market. I have no idea if the numbers of cobranded vests are large
and material on their revenue. If I had to guess I would probably say no.
However, the public sentiment on this and seeing these vests on wall st and in
VC circles could be actually a potentially damaging blow to the brand. One
that was originally self inflicted.

Based on them looking to move away from this I would have to guess that they
aren't really happy with this direction. Kind of like the Colin Kaepernick ads
with Nike, though on a much smaller scale.

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FearNotDaniel
Oh come on, don't drag Jared into this, he's one of the good ones! And his
vest isn't even co-branded.

------
dm8
From what I have gathered, reason vests are popular in SF is due to daily
weather fluctuations since they are light weight. I did not know they were
popular in other cities/metros too. Especially in finance sector.

~~~
asark
One of the only interesting observations in the (awful, just awful, I cannot
emphasize enough how bad it is) sequel to _The Prep Handbook_ is that
synthetic fleece had, since the first book, became a hugely popular exception
to the usual prep-set rule of "no synthetics", largely for practical reasons
(at least at first). I wouldn't be surprised if it's a bit of dressed-down
prep fashion being expressed or imitated, at least by a certain set of the
folks wearing it. Finance'd be the right crowd for that.

[EDIT] that is, _The Official Preppy Handbook_. The sequel's called _True
Prep_ and is, again, awful, do not read it, it has none of the fun, well-
voiced humor of the first, it's bad, bad, bad.

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kop316
Maybe this is because I'm not in that particular tech scene, but is this a
thing? Between that and the linked article:

[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/i-wore-...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/i-wore-
a-vest-like-jeff-bezos-for-a-week-to-see-if-id-be)

I am honestly not sure.

~~~
ummonk
I don’t see vests that much but see black Patagonia puff jackets everywhere,
both branded and unbranded.

------
fakename
big opportunity for Summit Ice

------
smith-kyle
"All those evil hedge funds and “Uber-for-X” tech startups can go pound sand."

Why are "Uber-for-X" startups and hedge funds lumped into the same category?
Is the "Uber-for-X" business model unethical or does it bring no value to
consumers?

~~~
adamparsons
Uber for x usually means “let’s break laws and ‘disrupt’ an industry where
workers had a reasonable quality of life and further push the gig economy” I’m
fully okay with calling that out for being detrimental.

At least a hedge fund invests money for clients and pays taxes (sometimes)

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InTheArena
This is epic. I actually received one of these at a event last week. I
actually thought it was horribly tacky, living someplace not California where
jackets need arms to prevent frostbite. I had no idea that they were a part of
the culture wars.

------
CalChris
Why doesn't someone just take this to the next level and make one of these
with an _FYIFV_ logo?

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caprese
I saw this on @litquidity and thought it was still an April fools headline

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IdontRememberIt
Yes, and the clothing industry is well known to be employee friendly and to
generously share revenue with the whole supply chain.

The day they publish _their_ margin and cost breakdown, I may listen to their
PR BS.

~~~
seedless-sensat
Patagonia are absolute pioneers of sustainable clothing, and significantly
pushed the industry in the right direction. Please spend 30 seconds on their
corporate website, or go read _Let my people go surfing_ before making
unsustaniated critiques.

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toss1
Outstanding.

And of course, on-brand.

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loph
More for L.L. Bean, I guess.

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_bxg1
Love it.

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jedmeyers
Vests make a corporate comeback!

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zeveb
They're free to do business with whomever they wish to, of course, but this
seems an odd choice.

