The Lost Tribe of Civilization
PlanetOutdoors.com is an e-commerce company that specializes in sporting gear for avid outdoors people. They’re like goodwill ambassadors of gearing up and getting out to go hiking, climbing, biking and camping. It seemed natural that we set them up on an expedition to reach a tribe of people who live completely cut off from the outside world—New Yorkers.
“For 5 Days The World Watched Live” —USA Today
We cast five intrepid explorers of different sporting disciplines and sent them to make contact with this Lost Tribe of Civilization. The week-long expedition kind of broke the internet at the time because it was all shot, edited and aired on the fly in real-time. The team had no money, but only outdoor gear with which to barter and trade with the locals for food and campsites in the urban jungle. By expedition’s end, New Yorker office workers (dubbed “The Cubicle People”) were emailing the team to help them write convincing sick day excuses. So they can Get on. Gear up. Get out.
The Planet Outdoors integrated campaign included shrink-wrapped issues of National Geographic magazine with our expedition on the cover and a cool free patch. National TV directed people to the web for real-time updates on the team’s location via map and webcam with short tutorials about the latest outdoor gear.
USA Today and Good Morning America highlighted the expedition, as did the NY local news affiliates, and the story was picked up nationally. An adrenaline rush for the creative team who got to stay in a fancy hotel with elevators, plush beds and room service.
