Snake offensive

California – Conscious outdoor clothing company Patagonia has launched a campaign to restore America’s mighty Snake River.

• Free The Snake is a short film that spotlights the detrimental effects of four dams on the lower Snake River’s salmon population
• The campaign is part of Patagonia’s The New Localism initiative

The film pictures a future where the dam-less river will enable farmers, fishermen, tribes, salmon and the natural world to co-exist in harmony, and also reveals the staggering economic cost the dams have on the US economy – at least $150m a year. 

As part of the campaign, the brand has also launched a petition urging President Obama to remove the dams, with the first 70,000 signatures already delivered to the White House. Environmental responsibility lies at the heart of everything Patagonia does, but this is a new direction for the brand, creating engaging content to inspire action for a cause that is in tune with its core values, but not directly related to its own production line.

The Big Picture: With this campaign, Patagonia is effecting positive environmental change on a larger, more disruptive scale. Find out more in our Whole-system Thinking macrotrend.