Cabela’s Veterans Day Commercial: #ThanksForTheOutdoors
Script
Cabela’s customers: “Thanks for this amazing view. For this water. Thank you for opening day. Thanks for the weekend. Thank you for the rainbows. And for these fields. Thank you. Thank you for secret fishing spots. Thank you for this beautiful range. For the great outdoors. Thank you for this country. Thank you.”
Brett Favre: “I’d like to say thank you to all the veterans who protect our wonderful country. Thank you.”
[There are over 20 million veterans in the U.S. Let’s thank them for protecting this beautiful country.]
[#ThanksForTheOutdoors]
[Cabela’s: It’s in your nature.]
Year
2016Related Materials
Popularity
On Facebook alone, the ad was viewed more than 1.5 million times, propelled by the #ThansForTheOutdoors hashtag, over 25,000 likes and 7,600 shares:
Conspicuously Absent
Conspicuously absent from the Veterans ad: There was no mention of Cabela’s 5% every day discount for military members, nor was there any mention of Cabela’s participation in Hometown Heroes events which offer even greater discounts.
In contrast, compare the Cabela’s #ThanksForTheOutdoors ad to the approach of Bass Pro Shops, which clearly mentions its veterans discount:
For Cabela’s: A First (Sort of)
The veterans cause-marketing commercial is a first for Cabela’s, but the style of the ad is not. Rather than tout discounts or products, the Cabela’s ad portrays the outdoors as a place to experience heartfelt connections (with thanks to veterans for making that possible).
The #ThanksForTheOutdoors commercial has the same ‘look and feel’ as Cabela’s non-cause marketing ads, even including vertically-oriented footage which looks as if it were filmed on a cell phone: