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Prior to last year, Whitney McGuire had not seriously considered keeping an emergency survival kit in her home. But as 2020’s record-breaking fire season descends on the West Coast, the lawyer sustainability strategist and Brooklyn mom found herself contemplating what she might need to prepare if a climate change-related disaster strikes closer to home.

“I was incredibly worried about everything and wanted to feel like I had a tool for what the apocalypse was going to look like for me,” she said.

McGuire, 35, started online shopping for supplies and stepped into the rapidly evolving world of emergency preparedness brands.

According to the film’s director, Aaron Levy FEMAThe individual and social preparation section of surveys It shows that the country is in the midst of a “tidal wave of cultural change” when it comes to disaster preparedness.

“I think we’re starting to see a change in the assumption that ‘this can’t happen where I live,'” said Mr. Levy.

While government agencies like FEMA and nonprofits like the Red Cross have long tried to prepare people for the possibility of disaster, the rise of nonprofits working in the same field reflects just how big this shift really is.

There are companies in this category that have been around for years, serving survivors and veteran military types. Uncharted Supply Co. (selling modern backpacks containing small shovels, storm-proof matches, and water filters) and my doctor (selling extensive first aid supplies packaged in utility bags). But according to Ms. McGuire, these brands are targeting “outdoors, cis white men” with marketing materials that often feature muscular white men wearing flannel shirts in the woods.

As a result, a new wave of emergency preparedness companies emerged: those that cater to a more style-conscious clientele. At the forefront of these preparation, a Goop-approved brand that sells disaster supplies in minimalist backpacks and JudyTouching celebrities like the Kardashians, Chrissy Teigen, and TikTok sensation Addison Rae to promote their portable generators and waterproof supply packs.

Indeed, a year after she first tried to create an emergency kit, she became Judy’s friendly brand, and she was so frightened that she abandoned a half-full shopping cart.

“It almost looks like a yogurt brand or something,” said Ms. McGuire after seeing a Judy ad on Instagram. “It’s very friendly and makes the end of the world feel a little more colourful.”

This is by design. It was founded by Simon Huck, owner of the famous PR firm Command Entertainment Group, and Kim Kardashian’s best friend, and Josh Udaskin are best known for starting buzz, albeit a short-lived luggage company radenThe Judy exists to offer emergency kits packaged in an inviting rather than scary format.

“A new brand was needed for emergency preparedness,” said Mr. Huck. “It can be really scary, and I think a lot of people turn off when they hear it. So our task was: How can we get people interested?”

Judy’s founders returned red horn, the agency responsible for creating brand identities for Allbirds and Casper to help make what Mr. Huck calls the “least sexy category” more appealing.

Designed by Red Antler’s creative director Ada Mayer, their approach was based on tapping into positive emotions rather than exploiting the fear that often accompanies emergency preparedness. Judy never shows “after” shots of homes destroyed by wildfires or floods, only “before” footage showing happy families occupying their living room before the disaster.

The brand’s signature orange brings to mind traffic cones and indicates caution without ringing the mental alarm bells associated with what Ms. Mayer calls “medical red.” And the brand’s logo features a chunky font, which it describes as simultaneously “bold and resolute” and “somewhat friendly and unarmed.”

“The aim was to create something pragmatic but also very accessible,” Ms Mayer said. “We’ve taken a potentially scary and repulsive topic and made it more inviting.”

Since its launch in January 2020, Judy has sold over 25,000 disaster kits and gained nearly 60,000 followers. on her meme-filled Instagram page, and attracted 45,000 subscribers to its text messaging service, which provides free emergency preparedness information. Mr Huck said the business is on track to double in month-to-month growth in 2021.

As evidenced by Judy’s FAQ, some people seem to find Judy’s emergency preparedness resources before they find FEMAs. page, “Can I contact you if there is a disaster and I need help?” (For the record, the answer is no: Judy is “not a real-time alert official.”)

According to Antony Loewenstein, journalist and author of “Disaster Capitalism: Killing by Catastrophe,” this is just one of the potential disadvantages of brands’ disaster response.

The other is about the relationships of these brands with environmental policies. While Mr. Huck acknowledges the role the climate crisis has played in the rise of weather-related disasters, Judy’s website and social media deliberately omit the term “climate change” so as not to distract potential customers who find it “too politicized”. More Americans think global warming is happening than those who don’t six to one. Judy also doesn’t publish anything about the environmental impact of manufacturing its products.

In the case of Mr. Loewenstein, that is “avoiding the elephant in the room”.

“You have a growing number of companies saying, ‘We can help you address what everyone knows is a growing climate crisis.’ But there is no clarity as to why this happened,” Mr. Loewenstein said. “’Am I as a company complicit in supply chains and elsewhere?’

Dr. Samantha Montano, assistant professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of “Disasterology”” sees other issues related to market-driven responses to disaster. “This individualistic approach comes into its own with limitations,” he said. “Especially the conceptualization of being prepared as this consumer process where someone can go out and buy a bunch of stuff and then be good.”

Instead, it wants to focus more on holistic disaster preparedness, with a special emphasis on communities that can’t afford to spend between $195 and $995 on a Kardashian-approved emergency kit.

Mr. Huck resists the evaluation of brands like himself as opportunistic and compares their offerings with that of an alarm service or insurance company. And if approachable branding like Judy’s can help “make emergency preparedness part of the spirit of a time when people can really talk about it and not feel left out,” she’ll feel like she’s accomplished some of her goal, she said.

For Ms. McGuire, the price of Judy products eventually began to feel prohibitive, as she perceived the brand’s disinterest in serving the working class who needed disaster relief most. He’s still concerned with emergency preparedness for his family, but he starts with preparation that costs nothing, such as packing important documents in easy-to-hold, waterproof containers.

Even Mr. Huck can see the wisdom in that.

“The number one thing you can do to save lives is to have a contingency plan rather than having a physical product,” he said.