Orange County, Calif.-based Oakley donated the $180-a-pair glasses needed to protect the miners from ultraviolet light day or night, reports CNBC, calling the famous Oakley “O” on the side of each miner's glasses as an incredible branding coup.
In worldwide television impact alone, Oakley garnered $41 million in equivalent advertising time, according to research done for CNBC from Front Row Analytics, a sponsorship evaluation firm.
But it wasn't Oakley's idea, CNBC said. A Chilean journalist recommended the glasses to the miners' health insurer. Oakley donated 35 pairs of Radar with Black Iridium lenses in Path and Range lens shapes for the miners. The glasses have Oakley Plutonite lens material that filters out the UV rays.