How Canadian apparel brand Arc’teryx's bold campaign spiraled into a PR cautionary tale

Canadian outdoor apparel brand Arc'teryx's bold fireworks campaign at the foothills of the Himalayas last Friday was meant to promote its commitment to nature. Within days, it drew fiery social media backlash over the risk it posed to one of the world's most fragile ecosystems and prompted a government investigation.

The mountaineering brand's poor public response and reports of residual debris across the mountain slopes that followed has further fueled outrage and offered a cautionary tale in brand marketing.

The organizers claimed that precautions were taken in the lead up to the"Rising Dragon" event such as using biodegradable, environmentally-friendly materials and relocating nearby animals using salt bricks and cleaning up residues after the event.

Still, critics warned the campaign could cause lasting harm to the fragile Himalayan ecosystem, damaging the glaciers and soil stability, and disturbing wild animals' hibernation. They also accused Arc'teryx of hypocrisy for acting against its environmentally aware image and called for boycotts.

"The whole fireworks stunt is against the purpose of going hiking: nature, silience, tranquility, simplicity —doesn't matter if the material is environmentally friendly or not," said Amber Wu, a marketing consultant for international brands in China.

Sharing that sentiment, Calvin Yeap, a Shanghai-based marketing professional for consumer brands, said "no one could say this stunt can be justified in any way for a brand that makes it money and reputation on nature."

"The breach of trust [among consumers] is often more damaging than the incident itself and not easily forgotten," Wu added, noting that core outdoor enthusiasts, a core segment of consumers for Arc'teryx, may shift to rivals such as Patagonia, which is seen as more consistent and authentic in its environmental commitments.

The Tibetan plateau and its mountains are sacred to Tibetan buddists and have been tightly controlled since it was annexed by China in the 1950s. Shigatse, Tibet's second-largest city, has a population of about 800,000, with Tibetans making up around 90%.

In recent years, the region has become a popular tourist destination for travellers from other parts of China, stoking concerns over environmental damage and overcommercialization.

The controversy has turned into a crash course in public relations, as professionals raised their eyebrows over how the idea was greenlit by the company and local authorities at all.

Many pointed to the disconnect between the global and local team on brand strategy and messaging.

In a statement Sunday, Arc'teryx said the event was "in direct opposition to our commitment to outdoor spaces," while seeking to distance itself from the collaborating artist, Cai Guoqiang, and their local team in China. "We're addressing this directly with the local artist involved, our team in China, and will change the way we work to ensure this doesn't happen again," it said.

However, in a separate post in Chinese, Arc'teryx said the art project was intended to raise awareness of local cultures at high altitude but the execution "strayed and at times ran counter to that goal," according to CNBC's translation.

"It looked like the global team was not fully aware of this project [while] the local team seemed to have operated without a deep, ingrained understanding of the brand's core environmental value," said Wu, adding that the China team may have prioritized local trends over the company's broader brand vision.

Meanwhile, Chinese-born visual artist Cai, who oversaw similar shows for Beijing's Olympics Games in 2008, apologized for his artwork, saying he and his studio "humbly accept all criticisms," and that there were "many oversight on our part."

Public relations specialist Ivy Yang pointed out that Cai apologized on his studio's Chinese social media platforms, but not on his personal Instagram page in English. 

"Cai's value to Arc'teryx is his blue-chip credibility" with high-profile collaborations with major global brands ... Arc'teryx helped him 'realize a dream' on a high-risk project," Yang said, adding that "the same prestige that once helped win core enthusiasts can flip quickly when the narrative breaks."

While much of the blame has fallen on the brand and the artist, some argue that local authorities also failed in its role as a gatekeeper.

"What surprises me most is that the local authority approved an event of this nature, [which] leads me to question the details of the approval process" for events with potential environmental impact, said Echo Gong, an independent Shanghai-based retail consumer consultant. "The regulators [ought] to be one of the guardians for the environment."

A county-level environmental bureau official told local media Saturday that Arc'teryx's event had been given prior approval and was compliant as the materials used were environmentally friendly.

However, shortly after the backlash, the Shigatse municipal government said Sunday it dispatched officials to the site to investigate whether any environmental rules and regulations had been violated.

Despite the apologies, controversy has continued to swirl as more video footages appear, showing fragments of copper, plastic packaging and unburned gunpowder scattered across the Himalayan slopes after the firework stunt, triggering another wave of public criticism.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired a video Monday showing Tibetan villagers climbing up the mountain to clean up the debris.

"You can't get more arrogant than this: you ruined their habitat, and they have to clean it up and live with the enduring consequences?" said Yaling Jiang, founder of consumer consultancy firm ApertureChina.

"The Arc'teryx and Cai firework incident is not merely a case of bad PR or environmental infringement, but an important and valuable reminder — especially for those who take consumers for granted and fail to adapt to these social and cultrual changes in China today," Jiang noted.