Real-life tough guys star in these spots for Alaskan Hardgear

A new campaign for Alaskan Hardgear, the clothing brand owned by workwear retailer Duluth Trading Co., focuses on real-life Alaskan outdoor workers hard at work in the state's freezing winter landscape.

The campaign, via Planet Propaganda, represents the first time the brand is being advertised on streaming TV and digital video, having previously been limited to catalog, website and in-store. The films depict Alaskan men hard at work on their tough outdoor tasks, playfully juxtaposed with Leslie Gore’s 1963 hit song “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows.” The tagline is “Live Life Less Soft.”

The campaign is the product of twice-yearly trips to Alaska that Duluth Trading and Planet Propaganda's creative teams have taken in search of real workers. Brian Hucek, creative director, Planet Propaganda, says of the casting process, "The taxidermists, dock hands, helicopter pilots, ice hunters, glaciologists, snow rescuers and boat captains we tracked down were many things, but most notably not professional models. And that’s exactly how we wanted them—scars, warts, stubble, questionable haircuts and all."

He adds, "Typically, we’d ask them to show-up as they are. Don’t shave. Don’t get a haircut. Please don’t start a new moisturizing regimen either.

The Alaskan weather also proved something of a challenge to the shoot, with several feet of snow one day. But the agency says it netted great results and there was little to fix in post. Hucek comments, "Sure we want the clothes to look good—but good in this instance can mean covered in fish guts."