As part of Columbia Sportswear’s “Engineered For Whatever” brand platform, our team at Adam&eve\TBWA helped launch the multi-awarding winning campaign “Expedition Impossible”, a tongue-in-cheek challenge inviting outdoor adventurers to go find the edge of the Earth. And anyone who can prove the planet is flat will get everything owned by the company.

The “Expedition Impossible” challenge launches with an open letter by Columbia Sportswear Company CEO Tim Boyle in The New York Times and across its social channels, throwing down the gauntlet to tinfoil-hatted Flat Earther conspiracy theorists everywhere. The playful outreach to the Flat Earth community is a reminder that Columbia builds gear tough enough for any journey, even one aimed at the world’s imaginary edge.

In describing this new campaign, Boyle shares that, “This is another example of Columbia’s mission to channel the bold, irreverent energy that has long defined the brand, while illustrating our legacy of durability and innovation – highlighting the extremes our gear can go through, even to the ends of the Earth. Which don’t actually exist, but try telling Flat Earthers that.”  

In addition to the film starring Boyle himself explaining the challenge – that there will be plenty of fun poked at celebrity Flat Earthers and conspiracy communities online, as Columbia joins the conversations on Reddit posts and comments sections on YouTube and social media.