Oregon Brand Challenges Flat Earthers To Find Earth’s Edge

Marketing a company in this modern age can be fraught with all kinds of technical issues. Even if you hire an ad agency, you still have to know how to deal with Traditional marketing methods, social media, and at this point, let's not even get started with AI. 

So, when a northwest sportswear brand decides to do what might be called untraditional marketing, it's time to pay attention. (Well, just a little.) 

A new ad campaign

Oregon based Columbia Sportswear has rolled out a new ad campaign. Offering a challenge, and the winner of that challenge could wind up possessing the entire company. 

According to seattletimes.com,
‘if you can find the edge of the Earth and photograph it, then Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear can be yours, at least according to a new ad from the company.
The ad features Tim Boyle, the company’s CEO, challenging flat-earthers.
“You guys claim there’s an end to the Earth?” Boyle says. “Well, just go snap a picture. Send it to us. And you get the assets of the company. All of it.”’ 

The Flat Earth Society.

According to wikipedia.org,
‘Flat Earth groups of the modern era date from the middle of the 20th century; some adherents are serious and some are not. Those who are serious are often motivated by religion[ or conspiracy theories. Through the use of social media, flat Earth theories have been increasingly espoused and promoted by individuals unaffiliated with larger groups. Many believers make use of social media to spread their views.’ 

Tim Boyle is the CEO of Columbia Sportswear. Has been making promotional videos for. The company for years and as you can see, it has an interesting sense of humor. 

He's laid out some rules for this challenge, for instance Tim says,
“A cliff top in Seattle. A cul-de-sac in Kansas. Or your buddy Dave legally changing his name to ‘The Edge.’” 

Win the company?

As for what it means to be giving away the company you need to read the fine print it says you win “The Company LLC.” The assets of The Company LLC total $100,000. 

Obviously, $100,000 is not the total worth of Columbia Sportswear, which right now is valued at somewhere around $3 billion. But I'll take $100,000. (Not that I have a shot at winning. I'm a firm believer in the “Round Earth” concept.) 

In a weird way, I kind of hope somebody wins this contest, although it would shake all of my core beliefs about science. I guess that's what I get for reading too much Terry Pratchett.

Columbia Sportswear’s challenge: Prove Earth is flat, win the company | The Seattle Times