• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

The Grim Reaper just got a brand deal. Columbia Sportswear is handing the scythe to @Reaper_1938, a TikTok and Instagram influencer created for “Death Wishes,” a Halloween social campaign promoting the brand’s limited-edition Powderkeg II Remastered Interchange jacket.

The jackets—fewer than 20 exist—come stitched with a legally binding Will & Testament in the lining, a tongue-in-cheek nod to Columbia’s reputation for durability. Winners will get their prizes in custom coffin boxes “signed with cold regards” by the Reaper himself. (He also goes by Notorious RIP.)

“This is the first of many things like this that we have in the pipeline,” says Matt Sutton, Columbia’s head of marketing. “We’re poking the bear through earned media and trying to spark conversations on social media.”

It also makes a nice seasonal follow to the “Engineered for Whatever” campaign introduced this summer, with headlines like, “made for the days when nature wants you dead.” Reaper has a cameo in that effort too, charging after a terrified trail runner.

The idea for the Halloween effort began with a customer insight. “We get these incredible notes from people saying, ‘I’ve had one of your jackets for 27 years,’ or sending pictures of their kids wearing the same coat they wore in the ’90s,” Sutton says. “We wanted to tell that story, but not in the cliché, ‘we have the best quality’ way—because no one would pay attention to that.”

Working with adam&eveDDB London, Columbia flipped the message from longevity to legacy. “They had this wacky, amazing creative idea with the will and testament,” Sutton says. “It’s a play on the idea of gear that literally outlives you.”

Sutton admits the brand knew it was walking a fine line. “We felt like this is the right moment to balance that line of humor but not go too far. It would have been too much of an edge if it wasn’t aligned to hijacking Halloween and having a little bit of fun with it.”

The best part, Sutton tells Marketing Daily, is reading through the comments, as fans share their own near-death outdoor stories: “They’re heartfelt and hilarious.”

The Will & Testament itself, stitched into jackets, is appropriately chilly:  “To the new owner: may you wear it well, and continue to repel storms, carry your trail mix, and survive your bad decisions as it once did mine….Please remember: the jacket is waterproof, but it’s not idiot-proof. If you end up in a snowbank, that’s on you."

Sutton says the stunt also reconnects Columbia with its irreverent roots. “Our muse isn’t to reinvent Columbia—it’s to go back to what distinguished us,” he says. “If you look back on the old Gert and Tim campaigns, where she’s putting her son through hell—running him over with a Zamboni—those were talked about as crazy, extreme stunts at the time. This is our attempt to bring that back in a way that’s modern and relevant.”

As for the Reaper’s future? Sutton says this probably isn’t his last ride. “He showed up in our launch video, chasing a trail runner,” he says. “He’s on our roster of unique characters. I suspect he’ll make an appearance again.”