

Jeff Oehmen. (2014). REI. Jeff Oehmen Creative. http://www.jeffoehmencreative.com. Accessed January 19, 2014.
Oehmen’s advertisement for the outdoor recreation retail company REI is suggesting you should buy clothing and outdoor gear from REI because this will allow you to travel to a vast, unpopulated area and sit on a big rock. It relies on the assumption that Nature is an awe-inspiring space for personal reflection and recreation and that, if you take a vacation from your normal busy routine (by buying REI products and going to a place with no other people around), then Nature will restore your sense of what is important in life. I initially found this advertisement very appealing; that landscape looks so inviting in the picture, and I can practically smell the cool breeze and feel the warmth of the rock. Compared to what I’m doing – sitting in front of my laptop in a sterile office building – taking a hike in a national park sounds like a great idea! However, the more I thought about it, the more I felt uncomfortable with the assumptions behind the ad. I am concerned that Nature is being portrayed as something separate from human society, and something that you only enjoy when you’re taking time off from work. I worry that this undervalues the kinds of natural resources that we use every day.
Questions for discussion:
1) Do you think one needs to go hiking in a national park to “feel small” or to appreciate the value of the environment?
2) Is a national park, which is heavily managed by people, any more "natural" than the office park where I work?
3) How does your view of nature affect the way you think about your use of natural resources (water, energy, paper, food, etc.)?
**Note that this example does not include the required responses to your classmates.