Bass Pro Shops’ Super Bowl Ad Scores a “C”

Bass Pro Shops (Springfield, Mo.), the only bricks-and-mortar retailer to run an ad featuring its stores during Super Bowl XVII, got a “C” grade from a panel of judges for its 30-second spot. The judges at the Kellogg School at Northwestern University evaluated all the ads that ran during the game on these criteria: attention, distinction, positioning, linkage, amplification and net equity.

In a news release on its ad, Bass Pro Shops said it features images of a world record-size Arctic Char, caught and released by John Paul Morris while fly fishing with his dad, legendary angler and conservationist Johnny Morris. The spot also includes images of shoppers in the chain’s sprawling stores and in a variety of outdoor settings.

“The ad celebrates conservation and connects people to the great outdoors while underscoring Bass Pro Shops Low Price Guarantee, the numerous benefits of joining Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s CLUB and also highlights the fact that thanks to passion of their World’s Foremost Outfitters, Bass Pro Shops was recently voted America’s Best Outdoor Retailer,” the release said.

In case you missed it and want to judge the Bass Pro spot for yourself, click here. (Skechers also ran an ad, but it focused on a tongue-in-cheek look at the many activities spokesperson Snoop Dogg undertakes while wearing the retailer’s footwear. It was graded a “B” by the Kellogg panelists.)

Bass Pro had plenty of company getting graded as a “C,” including Michelob ULTRA, Avocados From Mexico and Rakuten. The overall winner was Google Pixel, with spots by Doritos, Kia and T-Mobile among those also gaining an “A.”

“By and large, advertisers played it safe this year, sticking with broadly appealing themes,” said Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and co-lead of the school’s Ad Review. “It’s apparent advertisers are working hard to avoid very costly mistakes given the huge exposure of the Super Bowl.”