When Extreme Group founder and CEO Paul LeBlanc committed to creating The Human Preservation Co., a new fashion line aimed at fostering social good, it was Matthew Jackson’s last act of kindness that served as his final source of inspiration.
Jackson was a 28-year-old California man who perished in a car crash on Nov. 11, less than a day after paying for a woman’s $200 grocery order at Trader Joes after her credit card was declined. He had just one proviso: “Pay it forward.”
Hearing the news story about Jackson’s tragic death cemented the veteran ad-man’s long-standing ambition to create a venture committed to social change, even if only on a micro-level.
“I was sitting in my car, all choked up, and I thought ‘Thank God for good people,’” recalled LeBlanc last week.
He created The Human Preservation Co. to both celebrate and encourage people doing good, selling T-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with the message “Behuman.” The company has pledged to donate 10% of its profits to what LeBlanc characterized as “random acts of kindness.”
While many brands like TOM’s, Tentree (which plants 10 trees for every item purchased) and Fog Off Clothing Co. (which donates 10% of proceeds to mental health foundations) have aligned with specific causes, LeBlanc said the goal with The Human Preservation Co. was to remain nimble.
“We’ve never seen a cause that wasn’t a good one, so we could have easily checked a box that gives to this cause or that, but you almost lose the inability to influence,” said LeBlanc. “This brand is really about the little things – it’s holding a door for somebody, paying for coffee for somebody behind you in line that you don’t know, sending a note to someone who needs some encouragement.”
The company has one major initiative planned for September that LeBlanc is keeping under wraps for now, but recently lent its support to a $3,000 GoFundMe.com campaign for the upkeep of a Halifax street musician’s violin, while also sending Behuman shirts to people featured in the news for their good deeds.
The seeds of the Human Preservation Co. were sown during a lengthy personal journey for LeBlanc, one that highlighted both the good and distressingly bad elements of human nature.
He pointed to last year’s Syrian refugee crisis as a catalyst, with his Facebook page becoming a battleground for pro- and anti-immigration sentiment. Tiring of the interminable back-and-forth, he laid down the law: Anyone who failed to recognize the image of a drowned boy on an Italian beach as anything other than a humanitarian crisis should de-friend him right away.
His commitment to altruism was further cemented by the death of his father, a man LeBlanc described as his “best buddy.”
His father’s friends and acquaintances helped LeBlanc through those dark days, he said, sharing stories and anecdotes about how the senior LeBlanc had enriched their lives. “He was very quiet about what he did for other people – he never looked for the spotlight,” said LeBlanc. “It was very moving to hear that stuff.”
LeBlanc and Extreme Group president and chief creative officer Shawn King have already devoted significant time to the venture, which officially launched two and a half months ago, using their marketing acumen to develop a top-to-bottom brand experience that permeates everything from the wrapping paper to its social media outreach and email marketing.
“If somebody was to purchase a T-shirt, it would be a really big miss for us to grab a shirt, chuck it in a polybag and send it out to somebody,” said LeBlanc. “The experience became a critical part.”
LeBlanc estimated Extreme Group has invested between $80,000 and $90,000 in the venture, not including the countless hours he and his partners spent building the website, sourcing material, creating back-end functionality, etc.
The company sold more than 1,000 pieces of clothing in its first two months; more importantly, it seemed to resonate with people. “I wasn’t at all concerned about the sales – it was much more about what did people who purchased the brand do with it,” said LeBlanc.
He said a recent Instagram post from someone who purchased a Behuman shirt typifies The Human Preservation Co.’s goals. The post reads: “[I have] seen this simple T-shirt turn assh*les into angels. Frowns turned to smiles, security guards gave me the approving nod and thumbs-up, random strangers smile and say ‘Nice shirt’ as frustrations fade to friendliness.”
“For whatever reason, it’s connecting the way I hoped it would,” said LeBlanc. “I’m really thrilled with the amount of attention and engagement people have had with us.”
That attention has extended into areas LeBlanc hadn’t planned on. Human Preservation Co. launched as a strictly online venture, but quickly attracted the attention of Halifax-based retailer Pseudio. The lifestyle brand retailer operates approximately 30 stores in Atlantic Canada and Alberta, and has helped transform companies like East Coast Lifestyle into major fashion brands.
“They called us three weeks ago and said ‘We heard about you guys, can you come in and chat?’” said LeBlanc. The two parties had a five-hour meeting (“We really hit it off,” said LeBlanc), with Pseudio agreeing to purchase 5,000 articles of “Behuman” clothing that day.
The retailer had approximately 20 different SKUs in stores for a test the next day, and now plans to make “Behuman” one of its anchor brands. “It sold really well, so now they’re leaning into it,” said LeBlanc.
One of the main inspirations for The Human Preservation Co. is Life is Good, a New England brand that launched in 1994 and has grown to more than 900 SKUs in 14 categories, with its products sold in 30 countries. The brand celebrates the seemingly banal things that make life great such as pizza and sports, with the phrase “Life is good.”
“That’s the one we probably most mirror,” said LeBlanc. “It’s a little more light-hearted and a bit more about ‘me’, while ours is much more about wrapping your arms around humanity, but if you were to pick a company that we were in the closest proximity to, it would definitely be that one.”
LeBlanc’s company currently has about eight full-time employees including recent hire David Finlayson, who spent three years as North American product manager-workwear with apparel brand Helly Hansen.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Finlayson’s official title with the company is “instigator and positivist” – though LeBlanc said one of his key roles would be opening up distribution channels in Ontario and Quebec.
LeBlanc is all too aware of the cynicism an advertising executive can incur in trying to change the world, but he said he was fully committed to what The Human Preservation Co. stands for.
“I know there are going to be people out there saying ‘They’re just trying to get rich – why don’t they give 100% of their profits?’” he said. “If we were giving everything away for nothing we’d be underwater pretty quickly [and] the truth of the matter is that I want to see change.
“It has changed me, and I think it can change others.”
