Patagonia Advertising Analysis

This video is a critical analysis of five different advertisements and is one of the final assignments for my class, COMM333 Persuasion at Old Dominion University. In this in assignment I was asked to identify the different target audiences, motivational appeals, and message structure of each of the five advertisements of my chosen brand, Patagonia. Throughout the video I go each ad individually and connect them to the specific course theories I've gone over in class. Finally, I end by evaluating their overall effectiveness and suggest future advertising strategy.

Thank you to all who give this a watch! :) References can be found below.

References

Gass, R. H., & Seiter, J. S. (2022). Persuasion: Social influence and Compliance Gaining. Routledge. 

Kenji. (2020, June 5). “don’t buy this jacket” — Patagonia’s daring campaign | by Kenji explains | better marketing. Medium.com. https://medium.com/better-marketing/dont-buy-this-jacket-patagonia-s-daring-campaign-2b37e145046b

Weedmark, D. (n.d.). Hard-sell & Soft-sell approaches in advertising. Smallbusiness.chorn.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/hardsell-softsell-approaches-advertising-11812.html

Patagonia. (2023). Let Them Be| Patagonia. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHAfKJUUd-I

Patagonia. (2024a). Patagonia: Made For All That Makes You. Ads of the World. Retrieved 2025, from https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/made-for-all-that-makes-you.

Patagonia. (2024b). The Stories We Wear: The Jacket That Never Quits. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K4mYcKUMnU

Patagonia. (2024c). Unfashionable. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BapdfqBFw8Y