The outdoor industry’s most politically motivated brand has committed to a new tactic to encourage voting: free gear. Patagonia is asking U.S. customers to encourage their friends and family to vote in the midterms in November with a tantalizing incentive for GearJunkies.
If you join its new 11.2 Million Vote Project, and help three people “create a plan to vote,” you’ll receive a $100 credit redeemable on Patagonia’s website or at a physical store, the brand said in a release.
Patagonia has long been an explicit defender of public lands within the political sphere. It recently launched a lawsuit against President Trump’s administration (for the second time) after it removed federal protections for most of Bears Ears National Monument.
Today, the company cited research from the Environmental Voter Project, which claims that “11.2 million registered-to-vote environmentalists did not vote in the 2024 election.”
Patagonia is not asking its customers to vote for particular candidates or a political party. However, it’s clearly hoping to increase the number of U.S. voters who show up at the polls ready to support candidates who want to protect parks and public lands.
When Does the Program Start?
The 11.2 Million Vote Project kicks off this Saturday, Sept. 26, which is also Public Lands Day.
The homepage of Patagonia, which is usually adorned with rain jackets and outdoor gear, simply features the words “Vote Big.” By signing up on the website this week, customers will agree to receive text messages with instructions about how to proceed.
If the 11.2 Million Vote Project is successful, 112,000 people will get $100 off their Patagonia order or make a $100 donation, the brand said. This means Patagonia is committing up to $11.2 million to help its community engage their friends and family to make a plan to vote. That means the program could potentially reach 336,000 people (assuming the 112,000 participants all contact at least three other people).
“A plan to vote identifies relevant deadlines and voting locations to remove the guesswork for voters,” Patagonia said in a news release. “Each voter can choose whether to vote early, vote in person or vote by mail, based on the rules where they live.”
How this will work remains a little unclear. GearJunkie reached out to Patagonia to inquire how participants will prove they’ve made these voting plans, but didn’t immediately hear back as of this writing.
This is far from the first time that Patagonia has taken action to promote voting. Back in 1978, it started advertising in local California newspapers to “get out the vote.” In 2018, it also founded Time to Vote, a nonpartisan, business-led movement to ensure workers don’t have to choose between earning a paycheck and voting. Time to Vote now includes more than 2,000 companies.
