"Feuerwerkskörper abfeuern" wurde im gesamten Internet kritisiert, aber das, was die Marketingkampagnen namhafter Marken anstreben, ist eben die Beleidigung.

A fireworks show over the Himalayas has pushed Arc'teryx into the spotlight of public opinion.

This marketing campaign, in which the brand contradicted its own values and damaged the natural ecosystem, now seems rather absurd. However, if we take a broader view, this kind of offensive visual spectacle marketing has always been a common tactic used by big brands. Nike simulated a football crash disaster scene on the streets of Seoul, and Louis Vuitton occupied public spaces in Paris with giant suitcases. While creating a media sensation, these campaigns have also sparked intense debates about art and marketing, as well as the public and private spheres.

Louis Vuitton's giant suitcase on the Champs-Élysées in Paris (Source: @Hong Kong Commercial Daily)

For the general public, such exaggerated and non - everyday marketing scenarios are unnecessary. However, for brands and their core consumers, setting off fireworks on the plateau is like a replicant dreaming of electric sheep—a necessary ritual for individual identity construction. It allows a windbreaker to break away from its practical value, be sold for tens of thousands of yuan, and become a cultural relic for a group to recognize and identify with each other.

That's why, even at the risk of controversy and crossing the line, brands will continue to bet on these irrational feasts. Only in the realm of irrationality can the myth of premium pricing be established.

The Spectacle Marketing of Offense

In hindsight, the "Ascending Dragon" fireworks show jointly held by Arc'teryx and Cai Guo - Qiang was a ridiculous act that threatened the natural environment, which was harmful to the brand and almost self - destructive.

Fireworks picture (Source: China Youth Daily)

However, from a pre - planning perspective, challenging public aesthetics and even offending social consensus is not unique to Arc'teryx. It is a tried - and - true, even standard marketing tactic used by big brands. Creating a visual spectacle, detaching the brand from its practical value, and binding it to non - everyday, non - functional values to complete a cultural narrative and give the product more room for premium pricing is the internal logic behind this kind of marketing.

There are generally two common ways for brands to create spectacles. One is to occupy, transform, or even destroy urban geographical spaces, intervene in the urban landscape with art installations and extreme visual languages to create a sense of presence. Brands that choose this path are often more closely associated with urban life and consumerism, so they usually select international fashion capitals as their locations. The effect of these exhibitions is generally so avant - garde that it borders on the grotesque, even challenging the limits of physiological tolerance.

As early as 2004, before the rise of social media, Nike used the idea of smashing cars and buildings with a giant football on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand. In August this year, Nike repeated the same trick, creating a larger - scale football crash disaster scene on the streets of Seoul, South Korea.

On - site picture (Source: Sohu News)

Another brand obsessed with "miniaturizing the giant" is the top luxury brand Louis Vuitton. In 2023, during its collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, Louis Vuitton installed a giant Yayoi Kusama portrait installation on the exterior wall of its flagship store on the Champs - Élysées in Paris. In the past few years, it has also transformed its flagship stores in Paris and New York into giant Louis Vuitton suitcases. This year, this tactic was replicated in front of the Shanghai Jing'an Kerry Center. The 114.5 - meter - long and 30 - meter - high Louis Vuitton giant ship has become a must - visit landmark on social platforms.

Louis Vuitton's collaboration with Yayoi Kusama

The other path is to rewrite natural landscapes, extending the brand narrative from urban landmarks to mountains and wastelands. For contradictory humans and cunning brands, this rewriting implies both reverence and conquest. For example, Mammut, an outdoor brand, once organized climbers to light up the Alps with pollution - free headlamps, and fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent moved its fashion show to the Agafay Desert in Morocco, building a circular glowing oasis in the desert and integrating the natural landscape into its brand image building.

Arc'teryx's "Ascending Dragon" fireworks show was a more radical attempt in both brand narrative and natural transformation, which is why it triggered far more criticism than expected. However, in a broader context, the public criticism is actually both a side effect and a part of the marketing.

Take the collaboration between Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton as an example. When the giant portrait installation was first unveiled on the Champs - Élysées, it received polarized public opinions. The most frequently mentioned words in media evaluations were "art" and "creepy." People with megalophobia and trypophobia even avoided it. However, this kind of evaluation actually led to the rapid spread of this scene globally, with a large number of reposts on social platforms and even the emergence of secondary creations. The brand thus demonstrated its influence and control over popular culture.

Louis Vuitton's "Dancing Pumpkins" series in collaboration with Yayoi Kusama

The seemingly "harmless" Louis Vuitton giant suitcases have also been involved in a wave of intense criticism. In 2020, David Belliard, an ecological candidate in the Paris municipal elections, pointed out that public space is a valuable public product that should not be monopolized by a few multinational companies and a few individuals.

In his and the opponents' view, the LVMH Group tried to tie its brand reputation to the image of Paris by occupying urban landmarks, while the city government sacrificed cultural heritage and urban autonomy in pursuit of the luxury empire.

However, for brand loyalists, the ability to repeatedly utilize Paris' urban resources and cultural values precisely proves Louis Vuitton's status among luxury brands.

In this sense, no spectacle marketing is completely harmless, and brands never aim to please everyone. On the contrary, the core of spectacle marketing lies in breaking consensus, even causing discomfort and disgust. Only in this way can a brand prove that it goes beyond the scope of daily experience, construct a sense of scarcity and value, and thus filter out the real target customers who recognize this sense of scarcity and value.

Who Does Spectacle Marketing Target?

For outdoor brands with mountain climbing, rock climbing, and wilderness hiking as their core usage scenarios, challenging mountains and conquering nature are almost integral to all brand narratives, and Arc'teryx is no exception.

Arc'teryx's promotion

Holding the fireworks show in the sparsely populated Himalayas not only seemingly continues Arc'teryx's brand spirit but also offers an olive branch of identity recognition at a symbolic level. Consumers who buy Arc'teryx products are those who have the ability to afford high - end brands and the privilege to break away from work and daily life to conquer nature.

For this group of people, buying an Arc'teryx product is probably not for its practical functions such as waterproofing and breathability, but for the act of owning an Arc'teryx item itself.

After all, in the past two years, "Arc'teryx enthusiasts" have almost become a social identity symbol. On Xiaohongshu, "Arc'teryx bloggers" arrange their "battle suits" and share their "Arc'teryx - buying experiences." Outdoor "Arc'teryx enthusiasts" can be seen on snow - capped mountains, cliffs, and grasslands. Even in the city, "Arc'teryx enthusiasts" like to show off their daily outfits with the Arc'teryx label.

A post on Xiaohongshu (Source: Xiaohongshu)

Owning a windbreaker that costs several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan brings multi - faceted identity enhancement. It means having the leisure and courage to engage in a challenging outdoor sport, or at least having the ability to buy into this lifestyle. The saying "Once you have an Arc'teryx, you don't want to talk to those who don't" reflects a sense of superiority that differentiates oneself from others, which is itself part of the product's added value.

Arc'teryx has long understood that premium pricing is its greatest value. Xu Yang, the current CEO of Anta and the manager of Arc'teryx in Greater China, once mentioned in an interview that he believes consumers are buying a story and a spiritual sustenance, not just a physical product. In Anta's large brand portfolio, Arc'teryx is clearly at the top, targeting the most affluent consumers.

Therefore, in the past few years, Arc'teryx has almost positioned itself as a high - end outdoor luxury brand, opening stores in high - end luxury malls such as Shanghai Plaza 66 and Beijing SKP, adopting a one - on - one luxury shopping guide model in stores, launching co - branded products with Jil Sander, and hosting several themed art exhibitions. In the first season of its "Towards Beauty" marketing campaign, Arc'teryx held a show in the high - altitude area of Shangri - La, Yunnan, and in the second season, it released a concept video in a remote area in the eastern Himalayas. This time, it set off fireworks on a snow - capped plateau at an altitude of 5,500 meters. As the altitude increases, the brand's positioning becomes more and more high - end.

Arc'teryx's promotion

To further consolidate its high - end outdoor brand positioning, Amer Sports, the parent company of Arc'teryx, is also actively adjusting its channel strategy. At a recent earnings conference call for the second quarter, Zheng Jie, the group's CEO, revealed that in the future, more resources will be concentrated on full - price channels, and the proportion of sales in online and offline outlet stores will be intentionally reduced to strengthen the brand's scarcity and premium pricing ability.

However, the luxury transformation of outdoor brands is still an unproven business story. Compared with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Arc'teryx's high - end pricing is not as well - established in China. The sky - high prices of luxury goods come from historical accumulation, cultural capital, and status symbols, with countless celebrities and the wealthy voluntarily endorsing them. For a brand that sells windbreakers for tens of thousands of yuan, it is even more necessary to rely on a well - crafted cultural narrative to convince consumers that it is not just an item of equipment but a projection of identity, aesthetics, and lifestyle. This is also the core reason why Arc'teryx has abandoned scattered marketing and has been promoting the "Towards Beauty" series in the past three years.

In the process of intensive marketing, the brand inevitably went beyond its original core audience and entered the broader public view, which led to intense conflicts with the more widespread environmental awareness and policies, ultimately resulting in this failed marketing campaign.

A similar case is the recent controversy caused by Sam's Club stocking Orion products. From the consumers' perspective, selling snacks that can be bought in ordinary supermarkets in a membership - based supermarket dilutes the value of membership. However, from the brand's own positioning, Sam's Club's core customers are always family users who pursue high - quality fresh produce and meat, not consumers who regard Sam's Club as a high - end snack store. The angry voices due to the removal of popular snacks actually come from outside the brand's target customer group. From the consumers' perspective, these demands are reasonable, but from the perspective of brand marketing efficiency, this kind of feedback has little decisive impact on its strategic direction.

Similarly, Arc'teryx's act of setting off fireworks in the ecologically fragile Himalayas has had an irreversible impact on the local flora and fauna's habitat and the natural ecosystem, which is inexcusable from both environmental and ethical perspectives. That's why the brand has rightfully received a deluge of criticism.

However, most of these critical voices come from the broader public outside the brand's core circle. In the eyes of the consumers that Arc'teryx really wants to reach, this controversy has not substantially weakened Arc'teryx's symbolic meaning. To completely disenchant the brand for them, either Arc'teryx has to lower its prices, or a more fashionable premium brand has to replace Arc'teryx's position.

Facts have also confirmed this. After the "Orion incident," Times Finance visited Sam's Club and found that except for the most controversial Orion Pie, other controversial snacks like Weilong were still on sale, and the core membership experience was not affected. After the Himalayas fireworks incident, Yicai Global visited Arc'teryx stores and found that the customer flow last weekend did not significantly decline compared with before. The online public relations crisis has not immediately translated into a substantial loss of customers. In short, the people who are criticizing are not the same as the people who are buying.

The current situation of an Arc'teryx store (Source: Yicai Global)

The Arc'teryx fireworks show incident is a double - edged