Advocacy

First: We made it to the Tuamotus and are having a fantastic time exploring reefs, snorkeling bombies, biking motus, building triple-decker forts, and attending mass with beautiful singing–all with other kid boats! But communications are much more difficult than expected here, so instead of trying to upload photos of the beautiful atolls of Kauehi and Fakarava right now, I’ll give you something I had queued up for just such a moment. Enjoy!

Back when we were home for the holidays, Talia plucked a YETI catalogue from the mail my in-laws (whom my father fondly calls the outlaws) had been collecting for us. Tali loves YETI–we have a set of monogrammed Dogbark ramblers dear friends gave us for the trip–so she flipped through with interest.

Soon, though, she was disappointed.

“This catalogue only has men in it,” she said, furrowing her brow. She flipped a few more pages and shook the magazine in our direction. “Why is this catalogue all men?”

“Good question,” Graeme said.

“Maybe they think men are their only demographic,” I offered.

“But why aren’t I their demographic? I love YETI.” She flipped through every last photo. “At least I did until I saw this catalogue.” She let it fall to her lap.

A quote from Lindy West, though not perfectly apt at least relevant, came to mind:

Feminism is really just the long slow realization that the things you love hate you.

-Lindy West Shrill

Then Talia did something that made her feminist mama (and papa) proud. She picked up her phone (finally, a smart use for a smartphone) and thumbed this letter to YETI:

Hello Yeti!

My name is Talia and I am 12 years  old. I think your products are really cool and I use my customized rambler any time I want a hot or cold drink. Just one problem. I hope this doesn’t go to customer service because my problem isn’t with your product, but with your marketing.

I was reading your fall-winter yeti dispatch today and was disappointed with the demographics of the people in the photos in that catalog. There were 102 white men in your pictures. I only counted 12 white women. There were 3 men of color, and absolutely no women of color, and no children. This is all WRONG. I love your products, but if I can’t see people like me using your products in your ads, it doesn’t make me want any. I think other women and colored people* might feel the same way.

I am a super adventurous and outdoorsy person, and so are many other young women. My sister and I just sailed 8,000 miles with our parents in the Arctic, so I’ve done more exploring with your products than some of the white men in your catalog. If you want to learn more about our adventure, our blog is www.saildogbark.com.

Anyway, I wish you would acknowledge people other than white men in your advertising, because they aren’t the only ones who like to go outside and take quality products with them. 

Merry Christmas!

Talia Esarey, age 12, of Seattle, Washington

DAG! My girl advocating for herself and others. This made my heart sing.

*And her use of the term colored people gave us an opportunity to revisit the history around the language–Jim Crow, “separate but [NOT] equal,” crappy facilities labeled colored only–so she could understand how using people of color recognizes and rejects that oppression.

A few weeks later, we heard back from YETI! Here’s what they said:

Hello Talia,
 
Thank you for sending your note to YETI.  
 
Your timing is perfect!  I just joined YETI as the Chief Marketing Officer and one of my priorities is to continue to expand our customer base through diversity and inclusion.  As a mother of a 12 year old daughter, I know your parents are incredibly proud of you and your passion to take a stand.
 
As a token of gratitude, please send us your mailing address so we can send you a little swag for your YETI collection.   Keep up the good work!
 
Best regards,
Melisa Goldie

WOW! And a couple weeks after that, we received not just a little, but A LOT of YETI swag:

Thanks, YETI! Tali was just amazed and delighted that you responded with an email. The swag was lagniappe!