If you have had access to social networks in the last two days, you may have seen a photo of a Patagonia label with a direct and unequivocal message, put in place of the washing instructions: “VOTE THE ASSHOLES OUT”.

At first, it was thought to be a joke, a kind of meme, but confirmation of the authenticity came directly from Patagonia spokesperson Corley Kenna.
The message is an invitation to vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election on November 3rd and is part of the brand’s campaign against climate change.
“We’ve added them to the men’s and women’s shorts in our 2020 Regenerative Organic Stand-Up collection because we’ve been taking sides against climate deniers practically since we started making those shorts” Corley Kenna explained: “Yvon Chouinard – founder of Patagonia – has been saying this for years, referring to politicians of any party who deny or neglect the climate emergency while ignoring scientific data, not because they are not aware of it but because oil and gas lobbies fill their pockets with money”.

The company’s new position comes after U.S. President Donald Trump, at a meeting in Sacramento to take stock of the damage caused by the fires that are devastating California – a phenomenon directly related to rising temperatures – said: “The climate will start to get colder, just watch. I don’t think science really knows what’s happening”.

It is clear that Patagonia, which has always been at the forefront of environmental militancy, has once again wanted to send a strong message to the public because, as Chouinard wrote in a letter to his employees in 1992 entitled The Next 100 Years: “I have a slightly different definition of evil than most people. When you have the opportunity and the ability to do good and do nothing, it is evil. Evil doesn’t always have to be a blatant act. It can simply be the absence of good“.

The slogan that appeared on the shorts is nothing new for Patagonia, it seems that it had already been printed on a t-shirt and then strongly reiterated on the brand’s website.

In a letter written last April and addressed to the 1% for the Planet Community, Chouinard practically used the same words: “Remember, vote the assholes out, all of those politicians who don’t believe we should do anything about climate change. Vote for the planet and against those who would do nothing. We have the power and now is the time to use it.

As we were saying, Patagonia has always been committed to raising awareness on environmental issues and has made it its main core, this last initiative is not the only strong position taken in recent years.
In 2016 the Californian company donated all of its Black Friday revenues to non-profit environmental organizations, and in 2017 sued President Trump for his decision to reduce the size of two national monuments in the state of Utah, the Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante – the largest reduction in protected land in the history of the United States, in 2018 launched a digital platform, Patagonia Action Works, to support consumers’ commitment to protecting the environment and this year they decided to withdraw advertising on Facebook and Instagram to protest the rampant disinformation that clogs the platform.

This is only the last of the battles carried out by Patagonia but we are sure that they will not end here.