Pour one out for your favorite fashion troll. Merrell’s “It Starts Outside” campaign just outmogged the many memes about outdoor shoes only seeing cafe queues rather than the high peaks of a great mountain range. The new creative direction expands on the brand’s legacy as a destination for outdoor shoes, stepping into the digital realm with a simple message: Whether you’re scaling a mountain or simply going for a walk around the block, outside is outside — no matter how far you go. As anyone who has ever paced around their room over-caffeinated and muttering can attest, simply taking a break to get some fresh air can bring about a vibe shift you’ll never reach by doomscrolling.

This campaign comes as the brand celebrates its 45th anniversary, but it's safe to say this is the tonal opposite of a midlife crisis; it’s a deepening of its roots, tied to a more inclusive vision of what “outside” can actually mean. The science is on Merrell’s side: studies have shown that spending time outdoors boosts your mood, reduces anxiety, and supports social connection.

In the brand’s slick new campaign film, developed in partnership with Uncommon Creative Studio as part of the global rollout, a series of short vignettes shows people of all proclivities (and athletic abilities) stepping out of camper vans, tents, apartment buildings, and houses to recharge. Merrell athlete and Olympian Alexi Pappas and visually impaired marathoner Lisa Thompson set off on a walk in the snow, while a slick, pink-haired Khaen bamboo organ player posts up on his balcony to jam, and a girl just straight up drops her laptop to the ground as she plops onto the grass in her front yard, sprinklers misting the manicured lawn. It's giving major “not a cell phone in sight. just ppl living in the moment” energy, which is the exact kind of feeling we’re here for when one wrong click online sends us into an existential tailspin.

Alongside the ad rollout, Merrell also launches the “Merrell Outside: Futures Project,” a new program to increase access and opportunities for a new crop of aspiring designers. Developed with the Virgil Abloh "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund, the Fashion Scholarship Fund and Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, the program includes a nature-driven design curriculum and apprenticeships at the brand’s design studio.

Finally, a campaign that says it’s okay: close the laptop. Sometimes, we just need a reminder that even the smallest step out the door can still feel like one giant leap for our mental clarity.