Columbia’s CEO Approves of Quarter-zips and ‘Expedition Impossible’

Columbia Sportswear really wants shoppers to travel to the ends of the earth.

The Portland, Ore.-based company ran a full-page ad in Tuesday’s New York Times to launch “#ExpeditionImpossible,” challenging people to find the edge of the earth, and then snap a photo to send to the outdoors brand. In return, Columbia has promised “everything owned by the company,” which includes “all of it. The mannequins, snowshoes, coffee machines, a well-used toboggan, office plants, even the taxidermy beaver in the cafeteria,” based on the personal letter from chief executive officer Tim Boyle, which doubled as the ad. 

Warning that he will not be liable for “sunburn, dizziness or unplanned meetings with the edge of existence,” Boyle jokingly signed the letter “Flatly yours.” Readers of the fine print found out that AI was off-limits and that the ad’s reference to “the company” means “The Company LLC,” which has assets valued at $100,000. It also notes that “The Edge of the Earth” is a visible, physical end to the planet Earth. We’re talking infinite sheer drop.”

During an interview Tuesday, Boyle said the London-based agency adam&eveDDB developed the campaign. As of Tuesday morning, some submissions had already rolled in, according to Boyle, who first appeared in Columbia ads and commercials in the mid-1980s with his late mother Gert, who started the company. The suggestion that he take a leading role in the campaign was fine by Boyle. “I still have my SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card so I’m good with it,” he said. 

Hoping the campaign gains traction on social media, Boyle mentioned the viral TikTok video that ignited the trend for quarter-zips, which Columbia sells an assortment of. “We didn’t have anything to do with the original one. It just happened to be serendipitous,” he said.

Regarding the Expedition Impossible initiative, Boyle said, “Most other outdoor or companies use the same sort of images and ways to promote their brands. We just want to be different and do things that are a little odd.” (The technical brand’s logo is “Engineered for Whatever.”)

“Trying to create opportunities, where people will get excited about something unusual,” Boyle said he hopes the new initiative will get people to explore — and take selfies — in new places. Earlier this year, Intuitive Machines used two patented Columbia technologies to help protect its lunar lander from extreme temperatures in space. With 2026 approaching, the CEO of the $3.33 billion company is focused on closing out the year. Looking ahead, the company will be opening distribution centers in Europe and the U.K.

As for what former chairman Gert Boyle would make of “Expedition Impossible,” Tim Boyle said she would have liked it. “We would occasionally run into times, when we would come up with a concept that we would have to work like crazy for her to do it. She always took credit for it afterward, but she loved these things,” he said. 

Even at 91, Gert braved the snowy weather of the Pacific Northwest to appear in Columbia’s “One Tough Mother” campaign.