Win REI · 2015
REI closes on the biggest shopping day of the year
What happened
REI shut all its stores and its website on Black Friday, paid its staff for the day, and invited customers to go outside instead. #OptOutside became an annual programme joined by hundreds of other organisations.
Why it worked
Closing was expensive and legible: the cost proved the sincerity, and the hashtag gave the audience something to do rather than something to watch.
The rule
On a saturated commercial date, the cheapest way to be seen is to do the opposite — but only if the opposite costs you something.
Takeaway
A gesture without a cost is a slogan. This one had a P&L line.