Grant Eads ← All work
§ Patagonia · 2016 — 2021

The most uncompromising voice in retail, one post at a time.

RoleDirector, Social Media
ChannelsX, LinkedIn, Instagram
ScopeStrategy, writing, deployment
001
The President Stole Your Land

Five words that turned a homepage black and a brand into a plaintiff.

When Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were cut — the largest elimination of protected land in American history — we didn't publish a statement. We shut off commerce, turned every channel black, and pointed the entire audience at one sentence.

Social didn't support the response. Social was the response: users were routed to tweet directly at the White House, then carried into the lawsuit announcement. Legal, exec, and social aligned in hours, not weeks.

ResultThe most-covered brand action of the year.
December
2017
002
100% for the Planet

We told people we'd give away every dollar. They gave us five times more than we projected.

100% of global Black Friday sales — not profits, sales — to grassroots environmental groups. Finance modeled $2M. The entire demand engine was organic social: no paid, no discounting, just conviction stated plainly on the biggest shopping day of the year.

$10M in a single day. A record for revenue and for giving, at the same time.

Result$10M. 5x projection. Conviction converts.
November
2016
003
Facing Extinction

We closed every store on Earth and let social carry the whole company for a day.

For the Global Climate Strike, Patagonia shut every store, every office, and the e-commerce site for 24 hours. No selling, no posting around it — every channel redirected the audience to the strike itself.

A deliberate revenue sacrifice, orchestrated entirely through social. Comms didn't support the corporate decision. Comms led it.

Result24-hour global shutdown. Social as the sole channel.
September
2019
004
The quietest channel win

We pulled every paid dollar from Meta and kept growing anyway.

Among the first major brands into #StopHateForProfit — and one of the only ones that never came back. Sixteen months and counting of zero paid spend on the platforms where most brands buy their audience.

Organic did all the work. Trust compounds.

Result16+ months, zero paid, continued growth.
June
2020
005
Vote the Assholes Out

A garment tag went viral in an election season. The job was making sure it landed.

When the tag surfaced on social, the spike was organic and instant. The work was judgment: confirm authenticity fast, frame it around climate denial rather than party, and convert a viral moment into voter-turnout action.

Provocative enough to travel. Defensible enough to hold.

ResultA viral moment held on message, in an election year.
September
2020
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