REI #OptOutside on Black Friday Campaign Returns For Third Year

For the third year running, REI is passing on the Black Friday retail overload, and encouraging users to skip the chaos and instead embrace nature by ‘Opting Outside’.

As part of REI’s #OptOutside campaign, REI’s retail stores will close and online order processing will be halted, encouraging customers and employees alike to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. In addition, REI is also launching a special new search engine that can be accessed by visiting REI.com/opt-outside.

The search engine pulls user-generated content from Instagram with additional information added about the location, such as the difficulty rating of a trail, user reviews, or professional advice from REI themselves.

“We are doing this again to unite people and to find common ground in the outdoors,” said REI’s CEO, Jerry Stritzke. “Right now, I think people are looking for a moment to take a breath, reground themselves and come together. More than 700 organizations and nearly 8 million people have joined #OptOutside over the past two years. We could not be more thankful. But last year we stepped back and said, ‘we can do more.’ We asked how we could offer new practical tools and inspiration. So we have captured the experiences of the outdoor community and organized them in a way that no one has done before.”

Will you join REI on Black Friday, skip the lines and madness, and instead #OptOutside?