In a media landscape that’s filled with hiking boots and nature scenes, Colorado-based Pearl Izumi offers something different. Its ad campaigns over the years have sought to stand out, including weird images of scantily-clad bike racers, naughty words, and proclamations that strike hard but (we assume) are often half in jest. (See the controversial “Signal To Cars” ad here as exhibit A.)

After a visit to Pearl’s headquarters last month, where many of the ads are on display in a narrow hall near the marketing department, we were intrigued enough to beg the company for a password to see an archive where years of its promotional creative is stored.

(We run the racier of the ads on page 2 of this post; view at your own risk!)

The spread below (and on page two here) are our favorites from the bunch, most produced by the agencies Pocket Hercules, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, and Goodness MFG and appearing in glossy outdoor-sport magazines you may have read over the past decade.

Note: None of these ads have run on GearJunkie.com. I hear our sales staff is still trying to land the account….

—Stephen Regenold

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