The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 5.24 Silicon Valley, Bezos & More! Why Patagonia is Making Tech and Finance Bros Panic...

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Friday. Welcome to your Extra Friday News Show. My name is Philip DeFranco, and today we're going to be talking about the battle between Patagonia and tech and finance bros. And the reason we're talking about this seemingly random thing is, one, this fight could potentially shape how the tech and finance industries look, but also because it eventually leads us to a place of controversy and debate around what companies should do as far as morals and how they treat the people that buy their product. But to get there, we have to go down this sleeveless road. So chances are, if you live or work in a big city like New York, San Francisco, or Washington, DC, you've seen guys walking around who look like this.

Starting point is 00:00:31 But what you might not know is that that outfit actually has a name. It's called the Midtown Uniform, and it's usually worn by guys in the tech and finance industry. And in fact, this unofficial uniform has become so popular that last year, the Wall Street Journal even created a handy annotated guide to the humdrum Midtown Uniform. are some of the must-haves listed in that guide. Brown shoes from chocolate brown brogues by Allen Edmonds to cafe au lait

Starting point is 00:00:52 square-toed rockport loafers to topside is straight off the sailboat. Brown shoes are the anchor of the Midtown uniform. The button-up shirt, the trusty base layer of today's cubicle armor often in safe shades of blue white and pink and of course slacks the Midtown man favors beige colored chinos with pleating for the Over 40 gentlemen and a flat front for the under 40 guys But the most important part of this uniform is the vest or as the guide puts it in all of its glorious shades of gray And blue or even black for true renegades True renegades the fleece vest is the piece de resistance of the corporate clock puncher's uniform. And the vest is actually such an important part of the Midtown uniform that vest sales have actually skyrocketed over the past few years. Dubbed the new corporate uniform, retailers like Walmart's Moosejaw.com say sales stand by the trend. Vest sales on Moosejaw have exploded over the last three years, up almost 700%.

Starting point is 00:01:41 The look's also become such a staple for men in the tech and finance industry. It's been featured in TV shows like Silicon Valley and Billions It's inspired a meme Instagram account called Midtown Uniform an account that has over 137,000 followers and it's all vest all the time But Phil, why have all the Chad's, the Brad's, the Duckworth's, the Buckworth's adopted this look? Well, no one knows for sure, but there are a few potential reasons why The first potential reason is that this outfit has just become a status symbol, right? Wearing this so-called midtown uniform, it can let others know where you work without having to strike it up in

Starting point is 00:02:09 conversation first. And that's partially because tons of large tech and finance companies actually buy the vests in bulk and emblaze their logo on them. And then these vests are given out to employees, clients, even given out at conferences. In an interview with BuzzFeed, Eric Damon, the costume designer for the show Billions, even had this to say, quote, It's kind of like how the Scottish clans have their own tartan, and these outfits can also symbolize having a large disposable income. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Eric Damon, the costume designer for the show Billions, even had this to say, quote, And there's a range, but they can get pretty pricey. For example, in this picture, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, he's wearing what appears to be a $995 Ralph Lauren vest. And there's even cheaper options from the most popular brands like Patagonia and the North Face costing around $80. But the photo of Bezos actually leads us to the next reason why tech and finance guys may be wearing these vests. It's because they're daddies,

Starting point is 00:02:47 I mean their bosses are wearing them. Here's a picture of LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman wearing a Patagonia fleece vest. You've got Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, wearing a black vest on stage of TechCrunch Disrupt. You've got the CEO of Uber wearing a leather jacket, I lied, it's a fleece vest. And these outfits have become such a power symbol

Starting point is 00:03:01 and also at the same time a meme that Fortune posted this satirical article titled, "'Group of White Men in Patagonia Vest Confused for VC Fund "'Raise 500 Million.'" Then the next potential reason for why people are wearing these outfits is, it's actually because it can help finance and tech guys fit in.

Starting point is 00:03:15 A financial researcher actually told Esquire that he started wearing the unofficial uniform to deflect unwelcome attention, reportedly considering this question before deciding to wear the look. "'How will I blend in better "'so no one asks me questions at work? And with that, you've had people argue that kind of bro culture that's often associated with tech and finance jobs

Starting point is 00:03:30 instills the idea that looking like your peers is important. And that can kind of even feel high school-esque. I don't know what your high school is like, but yeah. Also, interestingly enough, another potential reason of why these people are dressing in this so-called midtown uniform might actually have to deal with the 2007 and 2008 financial crisis. Prior to that crash, the typical outfit for men in that industry was an expensive suit and tie. Think about what you saw in like,

Starting point is 00:03:49 The Wolf of Wall Street, not that scene. Or think about that after today's show, what I'm talking about is the suit. Most of the guys in that movie weren't strutting around in fleece vests. There's even a scene in that movie where you can kind of see the attitude around fashion in the finance industry.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Because at least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems, I show up in the back of a limo, wearing a $2,000 suit and a $40,000 gold fucking watch. But after the recession, we saw finance guys starting to scrap that look. And in fact, finance companies started implementing less strict dress codes. With a stock trader who was on the floor during the 2008 recession telling the Wall Street Journal, the payouts regressed, so just like every industry that has payment difficulties, they find other ways to satisfy employees and dress is one of the easiest ones.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Although, we should note that several articles on the Midtown Un uniform have said that bros still wear suits when meeting with clients, but the vest outfit is still the go-to look for in-house work. And possibly the last reason why these bros adopted the style is actually very simple. It's just vests are comfy. I don't know what the hell I was doing about 10 years ago, but these vests are actually comfy. And when given the choice between a tie and a vest, most guys in tech and finance are picking comfort. But that may not be the case for much longer. And that's because, thanks to some recent events, the Midtown uniform may be on its way out. On April 1st, Binna Kim, president of the

Starting point is 00:04:51 Financial Communications Company, which ironically is named Vested, tweeted, News at Patagonia just told us they are no longer doing branded vests for financial services companies. This is going to cause a FinTech crisis. Run for the hills! And following that up in another tweet saying, farewell Patagonia vests. And so what had happened was Kim's company had reached out to a Patagonia retail partner to place an order of vests for some of their clients. Clients that included hedge funds, banking, FinTech, and wealth management firms. But according to Kim, she ended up getting hit with a rejection letter from one of Patagonia's retail partners. And part of the letter that was attached to her second tweet read, Patagonia has nothing against your client or the finance industry. It's just not an area they are currently marketing

Starting point is 00:05:25 through our co-brand division. The brand is really focused right now on only co-branding with a small collection of like-minded and brand aligned areas. Outdoor sports that are relevant to the gear we design, regenerative organic farming, and environmental activism. Kim's tweet ended up actually setting off some panic in the tech and finance industry,

Starting point is 00:05:40 which were now worried that they wouldn't be able to get their own branded Patagonia vest. Oh no, this is the worst timeline. The New York Times even calling it the great fleece freakout of 2019 And it's interesting that someone had to get a degree to be able to to write that in the New York Times Also, I know some of you may have noticed that Kim's tweet came out on April 1st So was it an April Fool's joke an April Fool's joke for a bunch of business and finance people? I cannot relate to well No

Starting point is 00:06:03 The next day Patagonia ended up actually confirming to Buzzfeed that this was not a joke. Patagonia had actually changed its policies for corporate sales clients buying in bulk, with the company telling Buzzfeed, "'We recently shifted the focus of this program "'to increase the number of certified B corporations, "'1% for the planet members, "'and other mission-driven companies

Starting point is 00:06:17 "'that prioritize the planet. "'The shift does not affect current customers "'in our corporate sales program.'" So basically what that means is that Patagonia will not be dropping any of their current tech or finance firms from their contracts, but moving forward, new contracts will only be given to companies that put a focus on the environment. Patagonia is saying that they changed this policy to better coincide with its new mission statement,

Starting point is 00:06:33 which is simply, Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. It's also now the most surprising news, if you're one of the people that have Google Alerts set up for Patagonia news, because back in July last year, when Esquire tried to ask Patagonia about why their vests were just so popular with tech and finance, the company was, quote, "'Less than enthusiastic to talk about the relationship.'" Esquire wrote, in a rather terse email from the communications team, "'I was told they have, quote, no idea how or why

Starting point is 00:06:56 "'the vest became so popular with the young corporate set. "'They build their products specifically "'for environmentalists and laborers "'who work in the elements.'" It's also worth noting here, and it kind of gets to the core of why we're talking about this, this bro vest story, their decision was met with some controversy. You know, you had some people applauding the company for sticking to their mission statement,

Starting point is 00:07:12 while others claimed that Patagonia was just trying to villainize the finance and tech industries. And actually, on that last point, one of Patagonia's most vocal critics has been their biggest rival in the vest game, Scotty Vest. And in an interview, the company's CEO, Scott Jordan, said that Patagonia should be less judgmental of its customers saying do We really want clothing manufacturers judging our morals and values adding they are more interested in creating clickbait than actually helping the planet They should let the customer decide what they want to buy But also here we should know that Patagonia isn't actually the only best provider rejecting clients according to this tweet from a BuzzFeed reporter

Starting point is 00:07:41 The North Face rejected an oil corporation from buying branded vests because the corporation didn't align with North Face's values. But also, Patagonia isn't just being criticized for being judgmental, some are even calling their shift in policy a PR scheme. For example, Jordan in that interview added, "'I call bullshit on them as a PR stunt. "'It's so disingenuous to say we don't want money anymore.'"

Starting point is 00:07:58 And Jordan's comments actually bring us to one of our last questions. Is Patagonia's new policy just greenwashing? And if you're unfamiliar with that term, it is not when they replace white people in a movie with Hulk. Hello, my name is Hulk. Greenwashing is basically when a company spends more time

Starting point is 00:08:14 and money claiming to be green through advertising and PR than actually helping the environment. And so there's the question of, well, what has Patagonia ever done for the environment? You know, looking into it, even though the policy that we talked about today is new, Patagonia has actually made business decisions with the environment in mind for a while. You know, looking into it, even though the policy that we talked about today is new, Patagonia has actually made business decisions with the environment in mind for a while.

Starting point is 00:08:27 For example, since 1985, the company has pledged 1% of its sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. And while 1% can sound small, over the years, that's amounted to more than $100 million in donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental groups. Also, last year, the Patagonia donated the $10 million that it saved from President Trump's tax cuts

Starting point is 00:08:44 to environmental protection groups. The company has also had B Corp certification since 2011, which if you're not familiar, B Corp certifications are given to businesses that according to the non-profit's website, meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. And the certifications also come with an impact score, and in order to be given a certification, a company has to have a score of at least 80. Patagonia's current score is almost double that with a score of 151.1. Which actually makes it one of the highest rated B Corp companies out there. So with that in mind, it's probably a little unfair to say that Patagonia's new policy is just greenwashing. But that last part's just my opinion based off of far too much research into bro vests.

Starting point is 00:09:21 Sometimes you Google something and you just gotta see where it goes and then you share the results with several hundred thousand people. But with all that said, I do pass the question off to you. What do you guys think about Patagonia's decision here? Do you feel like it is a PR stunt, discrimination based off of lifestyle or personal beliefs? Do you feel like Patagonia is being genuine here? What are your thoughts in general about a company

Starting point is 00:09:39 being engaged in environmental causes or any other cause? And of course, the most important question, do you think I could pull off the Midtown uniform? With all of that said, thank you so much for watching. I wanted to do something a little bit lighter going into the weekend. And if you liked today's video, you wanna maybe support the channel,

Starting point is 00:09:53 just take a second, hit that like button. You can also go to roguerocket.com slash support, support some of our great sponsors or have a paid subscription. Also, if you're not 100% filled in, maybe you missed one of the last two Philip DeFranco shows, you can click or tap right there to watch those, or you can just go to roguerocket.com.

Starting point is 00:10:07 But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in, I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 5.24 Silicon Valley, Bezos & More! Why Patagonia is Making Tech and Finance Bros Panic...

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