Dieline’s Friday Wrap-Up: Monopoly Sucks, Zoom is O-verwhelming, and Patagonia Is Still Cool (Maybe)

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is well regarded for offering other brands and companies a model on how not to fuck up the planet and do business without being a jerk.

On Wednesday,he gave away his company.

 “I never wanted to be a businessman,” he wrote in the announcement. “I started as a craftsman, making climbing gear for my friends and myself, then got into apparel. As we began to witness the extent of global warming and ecological destruction, and our own contribution to it, Patagonia committed to using our company to change the way business was done.”

"Instead of ‘going public,’ you could say we’re ‘going purpose,’” he added in the letter. While they considered selling the company outright, they were worried about the brand’s legacy, but how could they know a new owner would follow in their mission-driven footprints? Now, a Patagonia trust will control 2% of the voting stock, and climate change group Holdfast Collective will carry the remainder. After the money the company makes gets reinvested in the company, the profits will go to the Collective to fight climate change.

Regardless, it’s a refreshing stance from a CEO that genuinely wants to do right by the Earth and its inhabitants. While I’d like to say that Chouinard’s selling of the company could inspire other moneyed CEOs to do the same, we can only remind you that they mostly occupy themselves with exploiting the working class. Jeff Bezos is too busy taking human growth hormone and not reading history books, while Elon Musk is apparently out chasing massages for horseys and repopulating the Earth. 

Of course, according to Bloomberg'sDevon Pendleton and Ben Steverman, the Patagonia founder might have just skipped out on the bill, too:

"Still, the moves mean Chouinard won’t have to pay the federal capital gains taxes he would have owed had he sold the company, an option he said was under consideration. On a $3 billion sale, that bill could be more than $700 million. It also helps Chouinard avoid the US estate and gift tax, which is a 40% levy on large fortunes when they’re transferred to heirs."

Anywho, what do I know? On to the links!

Anger is a Gift

According to research from toy and game maker Hasbro, 8 out of 10 folkswill have some kind of argument or fight during a game of Monopoly—to my ears, that number seems a skosh too low. Also, I don’t think I know anyone who’s ever finished a game of Monopoly.

This new Belgian promotional campaign for the game says that fighting during a game of Monopoly is actually good for your emotional health, as it can teach you to learn about dealing with complex emotions and rolling with the disappointment of your jerk brother bankrupting you when you land on his Park Place hotel. “Throwing the Monopoly board across the room has the potential to strengthen your relationship with your family,” said creative communication agency KesselsKramer of the work.

Whatever you say, dude.

Napkin Pants

Men will literally buy Chiptole napkin pants instead of using an actual napkin (or go to therapy).

Anywho, Chipotle teamed up with designer Nicole McLaughlin to upcycle their napkins (used tho?) to make cargo pants that also convert to shorts. Wipe away, slobs.

All I Wanna Do is Zoom-a-Zoom-Zoom-Zoom / That’s Too Many Os

This past week, Zoom announced that they were expanding their services and even unveiled a new logo, which is not that bad! However, all of those “Os” genuinely give me a panic attack, and I feel incredibly overwhelmed at the sight of them. Even though the company knows that, collectively, we’re all feeling Zoom fatigue, their attempt at world domination and becoming a hybrid of Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Google marches unabated.

To Survive A War, You Gotta Become War

Fun piece from Sam Moore at The Guardian, where Renato “the Michaelangelo of the movie poster” Casaro breaks down some of his most famous pieces. He talks about creating work for the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Dino De Laurentiis and spills the tea on his posters for Conan the Barbarian and Rambo: First Blood Part II. 

It’s a lot of biceps!

Eamesy Does It

I remember buying one of those knock-off Eames rockers for my wife before we got married, and we had a friend who took one look at it and said they just knew when it was a fake. Anyway, person who shall remain nameless, thanks for making me feel bad about settling—I couldn’t afford the faux chair then, and two kids later, I definitely can’t afford it now.

This past week, HermanMiller announced that a new iteration of the shell chair would get made using recycled plastic. The move will save them from using 122 tons of virgin plastic every year and help reduce their carbon emissions by 15%. 

And, hey, you can recycle it when you’re finished. But why would you bother doing that when an unscrupulous antique furniture dealer is waiting to offload it for twice its value?