In a new series of long-form spots for gear brand Yeti, director Stacy Peralta captures the thoughts, hopes and uncertainties of those who seek purpose and transformation in the outdoors.

For the launch of Yeti’s Hopper M30 soft cooler, Peralta and creative agency Giant Spoon (Adweek’s 2018 Breakthrough Agency of the Year) trekked out into stunning and serene backdrops to profile some of the Yeti brand ambassadors.

The product takes a subtle supporting role in the campaign, which kicks off with spots featuring snowboarder Robin Van Gyn and fly fishing guide Oliver White.

“Yes, we’re advertising a product, but the product never upstages the character or story,” Peralta tells Adweek. “In fact, Yeti has not asked us to highlight the product at all. They simply want it as part of the toolkit of what these guys do with their lives.”

Yeti CMO Melisa Goldie says Peralta was an easy choice to direct the campaign, thanks to his combination of documentary filmmaking chops, experience with boundary-pushing athletes and personal history of reinvention.

“I’ve been at the brand nine months now, so I’ve been really digging deep into what makes this brand so special, really peeling back that onion every day,” Goldie says. “And one of the things I’ve found about the brand—through our ambassadors, our customers and even the employees—is this brand has deep roots in humility, curiosity, adventure and always being in the pursuit of happiness. Stacy embodies that.”

“It’s all about trying to keep the human touch. Just keep the human touch,” Peralta says. “So when I approach jobs like this Yeti campaign, it’s about how do we bring out the most human part of Robin, the most human part of Oliver?”

Peralta, Yeti and Giant Spoon wanted to create stories that, above all, humanized the brand ambassadors and helped viewers identify with them—rather than feeling intimidated by talent or envious of a jet-setting lifestyle.

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