The best sustainability marketing campaigns back a stated value with an action that costs the brand something. REI closed 143 stores on Black Friday 2015 and reported that 1.4 million people joined in. Patagonia gave away its ownership, and Adidas turned ocean plastic into millions of shoes. Here are five sustainability campaigns, with what each one reported.
Last updated: October 31, 2026. Results are as reported by brands, awards bodies and the press, not independently audited.
In this guide
- Which sustainability campaigns made this list?
- Which sustainability campaign is best for each goal?
- What are the five best sustainability marketing campaigns?
- What do the best sustainability campaigns have in common?
- How can brands copy these campaigns?
- Where can you find more sustainability PR guides?
- Where can you find more best marketing campaign guides?
- Frequently asked questions
Which sustainability campaigns made this list?
This list covers five campaigns from REI, Patagonia and Adidas: REI's #OptOutside, Patagonia's "Don't Buy This Jacket," Patagonia's 2022 ownership change, the Adidas and Parley ocean plastic range, and Adidas's Run For The Oceans. Each was chosen because the brand, an awards body or a news outlet published details of what it did.
"Best" is a judgment call, so this is 5W's pick of campaigns with a clear mechanism, not a ranking by sales. REI's campaign is about consumption and access to the outdoors more than a product claim, so it is included as an example of a brand taking a stand against its own busiest sales day. Patagonia and Adidas each appear twice because their campaigns were different ideas years apart.
| Campaign | Brand | Idea | Reported result |
|---|---|---|---|
| #OptOutside (2015) | REI | Closing every store on Black Friday | 1.4 million people joined; 6.7 billion media impressions |
| "Don't Buy This Jacket" (2011) | Patagonia | An ad asking customers to buy less | Sales up about 30% in the nine months after, per a Harvard Business School case |
| "Earth is now our only shareholder" (2022) | Patagonia | Transferring ownership to a trust and a nonprofit | About $100 million expected in annual dividends |
| Adidas x Parley (from 2015) | Adidas | Shoes made with recycled marine plastic | From 1 million pairs in 2017 to more than 11 million in 2019 |
| Run For The Oceans (2018 and 2019) | Adidas | Kilometers run turned into donations | Nearly 1 million runners and $1 million raised in 2018 |
Which sustainability campaign is best for each goal?
The best sustainability campaign depends on the goal: REI for earned media, Patagonia's 2011 ad for brand trust, Patagonia's 2022 move for investor and employee proof, Adidas x Parley for a scalable product line, and Run For The Oceans for customer participation. The table matches each goal to the case with the clearest published evidence. The matches are 5W's reading of public information.
| If your goal is... | Look at | What was reported |
|---|---|---|
| Earned media from a single decision | REI #OptOutside | 3,423 placements over 33 days, per a Cannes Lions case |
| Trust with a values-driven customer | Patagonia "Don't Buy This Jacket" | Sales up about 30% in nine months, not proven to be caused by the ad |
| Proof that the values are structural | Patagonia 2022 ownership | All voting stock moved to the Patagonia Purpose Trust |
| A product line that scales | Adidas x Parley | More than 11 million pairs in 2019 |
| Customer participation | Run For The Oceans | Nearly 1 million runners in 2018 |
What are the five best sustainability marketing campaigns?
The five campaigns below run from a retailer that closed its stores to a company that gave away its owners' stake.
1. REI #OptOutside: closing every store on Black Friday
On Black Friday 2015, REI closed all 143 of its stores, stopped processing online orders and paid its roughly 12,000 employees to spend the day outside, according to the Cannes Lions entries for the campaign. Customers were invited to join with the hashtag #OptOutside, and the entries report that more than 1.4 million people chose to spend November 27 outdoors.
The campaign earned 33 straight days of media coverage, with 3,423 placements and 6.7 billion media impressions, plus 1.2 billion social impressions, according to the same case. Retail Dive reported that it won the Promo and Activation Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and that REI's 2015 sales rose 9.3%, with comparable sales up 7% and web sales up 23%. Those sales figures cover the whole year, so they do not prove the campaign caused them.
Why it works: The decision cost the brand its biggest sales day, which made the message believable and gave reporters a story that needed no explaining.
2. Patagonia "Don't Buy This Jacket": asking customers to buy less
Patagonia ran an advertisement in 2011 that asked customers to think twice before buying one of its jackets. According to a Harvard Business School case cited in 5W's top 25 PR campaigns ranking, sales rose about 30% in the nine months after the ad.
That growth followed the ad, and it was not proven to be caused by it, so the case is better read as evidence that a counterintuitive message did not hurt sales than as proof it drove them. The ad's logic was that a brand willing to discourage a purchase earns more trust on every other claim it makes.
Why it works: Telling customers to buy less is a costly signal, and a costly signal is harder for audiences to dismiss as marketing.
3. Patagonia "Earth is now our only shareholder": a new ownership model
On September 14, 2022, Patagonia announced that founder Yvon Chouinard and his family had transferred ownership to two entities, according to the company's release. The Patagonia Purpose Trust holds all voting stock, which is 2% of the total, and the Holdfast Collective holds all nonvoting stock, which is 98%. Profits not reinvested in the business go to the Holdfast Collective to fight the environmental crisis.
Patagonia expects the annual dividend to total about $100 million, depending on the health of the business, according to Retail TouchPoints. The New York Times, as quoted by Fly Lords, valued the company at about $3 billion. The company told employees first, at a global town hall on September 14, before updating its website with Chouinard's letter.
Why it works: A change in who owns the company shows that the values are built into the structure, so the claim does not rest on advertising.
4. Adidas x Parley: ocean plastic at product scale
Adidas began working with Parley for the Oceans in 2015, and The Inertia reported that the first line was 7,000 pairs. Adidas said it produced 1 million pairs containing recycled ocean plastic in 2017 and 5 million in 2018, and it planned 11 million for 2019, according to an Adidas statement quoted by FashionUnited. The Japan Times later reported that the company made more than 11 million pairs in 2019, still a fraction of a group total above 400 million.
Adidas said each pair prevents roughly 11 plastic bottles from entering the ocean, according to Business Line. The scale comparison matters: the range grew fast, but it was still a small share of Adidas's output, so the campaign shows momentum more than a full change of materials.
Why it works: The shoe carries the message, so every customer who buys a pair repeats it without an ad.
5. Adidas Run For The Oceans: turning kilometers into donations
Run For The Oceans, launched by Adidas Running and Parley, united nearly 1 million runners in 2018 and raised $1 million for Parley, according to an Adidas release. For 2019 the brand set a goal of $1.5 million and said it would give $1 to the Parley Ocean School program for every kilometer run, up to that cap.
The money supported an education program that Adidas said aimed to reach 100,000 young people in affected coastal areas. The donation was capped and tied to a defined window of June 8 to 16, 2019, which made the cost to the brand known in advance.
Why it works: Customers take part by doing something they already do, and the brand's cost per participant is limited.
What do the best sustainability campaigns have in common?
Each campaign tied a sustainability message to an action that could be checked, whether a closed store, an ownership change or a number of pairs produced.
| Approach | Campaigns on this list | What the audience sees |
|---|---|---|
| A costly decision | REI, Patagonia 2011 | A brand giving up sales for a stated value |
| A structural change | Patagonia 2022 | Ownership that matches the mission |
| A product or event customers join | Adidas x Parley, Run For The Oceans | A purchase or a run that supports the cause |
The risk is the claim itself. Sustainability statements now carry legal and reputational exposure, and most results here are reported by the brand. Read 5W's guide to avoiding greenwashing claims before copying any figure into your own materials.
How can brands copy these campaigns?
Brands can copy these campaigns by choosing one action that costs something real, stating it plainly and publishing a number that can be checked.
- Pick a decision that gives up something the brand values, as REI did with Black Friday sales.
- Make the message match the business model, as Patagonia did by asking customers to buy less.
- Put the commitment in the structure, such as ownership, governance or sourcing, when words alone would not be believed.
- Scale a product change in stages and publish the volumes, as Adidas did from 1 million to 11 million pairs.
- Cap the cost of any customer-participation donation in advance, as Run For The Oceans did, and record a baseline before launch.
Where can you find more sustainability PR guides?
Sustainability marketing overlaps with greenwashing risk, hospitality and campaign roundups, so several 5W pages sit close to this one. See the guide to sustainability PR and greenwashing claims, the piece on hotel sustainability and ESG PR and 5W's sustainability PR practice.
For campaign results across other industries, see the top 25 PR campaigns ranked by results, and for another category built on brand stories, the best toy marketing campaigns.
Where can you find more best marketing campaign guides?
5W publishes a best-campaigns guide for each industry, with the result each campaign reported. Browse the guides to the best toy marketing campaigns, best alcohol marketing campaigns, best supplement marketing campaigns, best restaurant marketing campaigns, best beauty marketing campaigns and best home goods marketing campaigns.
More industries: the best entertainment and sports marketing campaigns, best pet marketing campaigns, best HR tech marketing campaigns, best franchise marketing campaigns, best fintech marketing campaigns and best B2B marketing campaigns. All of them sit in the 5W blog.
Frequently asked questions
Which sustainability campaign reported the biggest reach?
REI's #OptOutside reported the largest published reach, with 6.7 billion media impressions and more than 1.4 million people joining, according to its Cannes Lions case. The figures describe attention, not sales.
Which sustainability campaign is hardest to copy?
Patagonia's 2022 ownership change is the hardest to copy, because it required the founding family to give up ownership and set up a trust and a nonprofit. Smaller brands can copy the principle by building commitments into governance or sourcing.
Are the sustainability campaign results verified?
No. The figures come from company releases, awards entries and press reports. Treat each number as reported by the brand or the outlet, and note that the Patagonia sales growth followed the ad but was not proven to be caused by it.
Why do Patagonia and Adidas appear twice on this list?
Each brand ran two different campaigns. Patagonia's 2011 ad and 2022 ownership change use different tactics, and Adidas's Parley product range and its Run For The Oceans event reach customers in different ways.
How can a brand avoid greenwashing claims in a sustainability campaign?
A brand can avoid greenwashing claims by stating specific, checkable facts, naming sources and avoiding broad words that regulators have limited. Counsel should review any environmental claim before launch.
