Skechers returned to the Super Bowl in 2018 with a national ad featuring NFL Hall of Fame player Howie Long, who highlights the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based footwear brand's wide-fit shoes in a fairly forgettable ad that aired at the end of the first quarter.
"This is what I feel like when I wear regular shoes -- cramped and uncomfortable," laments Long, squashed between two other passengers on an airplane. After being upgraded, he explains that's why he wears Skechers' wide-fit shoes. "It's like first class for your feet," he says.
Viewers weren't terribly impressed with the 15-second spot. And many wondered how the sneaker brand even had the money; NBC was getting $5 million for 30-second spots and insisting that advertisers buy time in the Olympics as well. "Honestly who is buying skechers how do they still have money for a super bowl commercial," a Twitter user wrote.
Naysayers would have been surprised to know that Skechers was more than holding its own among both wide- and narrow-footed consumers. The company's most recent quarterly earnings showed net sales up 16 percent to $1.1 billion, primarily led by international growth. The brand reported $92.3 million in net earnings, a 42 percent rise over the year-earlier period.
The brand's most recent Super Bowl spot was in 2015, when it made a last-minute buy to air a spot it had already been running with baseball player Pete Rose ("Hall of Fame"), but it had been a regular presence for a few years. See its 2012 Kim Kardashian spot "The Breakup" for another example.
BRAND: Skechers
YEAR: 2018
SUPERBOWL: LII
QUARTER AIRED: Q1
