“Don’t buy” - The best ad idea of 2015

Each year the One Club gathers a roster of global creative people to evaluate thousands of advertising ideas from around the world, then rate them as worthy of Bronze, Silver, Gold and ultimately -- Best of Show. The ideas themselves could be social posts, websites, print ads, events, email strategies, online banners, TV commercials or any form of marketing.

The archive of work that results each year is always inspiring; proving the definition of "an idea" -- it causes the reaction, "I hadn't thought of it that way before." 

This year, the judges selected REI's #OptOutside campaign as Best of Show. 

On the U.S.'s biggest shopping day of the year, retailer REI said "Don't buy." They closed stores, paid 12,000 employees to take the day off, and shuttered their online retail presence. 

In short, a roster of the world's greatest practitioners of advertising selected "Don't buy" as the best advertising idea of 2015. 

AdAge review here. Adweek here. Campaign here. 

It's certainly ironic. The cynic in me wonders, if this idea -- which apes Cards Against Humanity's similar "anti" Black Friday efforts from a few years earlier (2015 = "Give us $5 and we'll give you nothing"; 2014 = "Buy actual shit"; 2013 = "Prices raised") -- will ultimately be measured not by what didn't happen as much as by what benefits REI accrued. 

Still, a potent idea well told by a courageous retailer. It says as much about our culture as anything. 

Kudos to Venables Bell, Edelman, Spark and especially REI for putting such an idea into the world.