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The outdoor brand Arc’teryx has issued an apology after a promotional fireworks display in the Tibetan plateau led to an outcry over potential environmental damage.
The promotional Rising Dragon high-altitude show involved long stretches of choreographed pyrotechnics and coloured smoke along snow-topped Himalayan ridgelines in the Tibetan region of Shigatse. The Canadian company, part-owned by China’s Anta Group, had partnered with a Chinese artist, Cai Guo-Qiang, who oversaw similar shows for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The organisers said the display used biodegradable, environmentally friendly materials, that all stock herds had been relocated and wildlife had been coaxed away with salt bricks. It said the project had passed tests in line with those set by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and abided by pollution management standards equivalent to those in Japan and Europe.
But videos of the display posted online by the brand were met with a barrage of criticism, accusing the brand of acting against its environmentally aware image and calling for boycotts.
“Imagine selling $800 jackets for mountain lovers, then nuking the mountains,” said one commenter on Instagram. “The global climate is already getting worse, and these damn people really don’t leave any way for wild animals and plants to survive,” said a Weibo user.
On Sunday, Arc-teryx and Cai issued apologies for the event, with the company saying the display “was out of line with Arc’teryx’s values”.
“The event was in direct opposition to our commitment to outdoor spaces, who we are and who we want to be for our people and our community,” it said on its official Instagram page, adding that it was “addressing this directly with the local artist involved and our team in China”.
“The public’s criticism has alerted us that the evaluation of the expression of art needs to be more professional and we need to be more humble and respectful of nature,” it said.
Cai posted his “sincere apologies”, telling his Weibo followers that there were “many oversights on our part” and pledging to help with any cleanup work needed.
The Tibetan plateau and its mountains are sacred to Tibetan Buddhists. The region has been tightly controlled since it was annexed by China in the 1950s and authorities strictly limit the activities of ethnic Tibetans. In recent years the region has become a popular tourist destination for travellers from other parts of China, leading to concerns about environmental damage and overcommercialisation.
A county environmental bureau official told local media on Saturday that the event had been given prior approval after government meetings and was compliant. He said no environmental assessment was required because the materials were environmentally friendly. “For now, the local ecology does not appear to be damaged,” he added.
However, after the backlash, the Shigatse government and Communist party branch launched an investigation.
On Monday, the China Advertising Association said it was “disappointed” in Arc’teryx for not having “explored more positive marketing strategies”.
“The display, under the guise of ‘respecting nature’, potentially harmed the environment, ultimately eroding years of trust,” it said in a statement.
Additional research by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu and Lillian Yang
