In the commercial, a smiling Manning walks up to the counter inside Feral armed with a green vest, a pair of hiking boots, a book titled Ruffle Some Feathers: How to Win in Competitive Birdwatching, binoculars and a crisp U.S. Bank Visa Card.
Jimmy Funkhouser, Feral's founder and owner, says he was approached by a Visa location scout about the commercial, but he wasn't sure what the scope of the ad was or who would be in it. The commercial director toured Feral and loved it. "A lot of retail commercials are so boring with boring floor setups and fluorescent lights," Funkhouser says. "But a lot of these larger companies want to capture a more authentic local backdrop."
Feral ended up being the perfect backdrop for the commercial. "We work really hard to build an environment that we're proud of," Funkhouser says. "We want people to come in and love our space, and when a location scout comes in and says somebody like Visa loves our space, it means a lot. I think it's a recognition of the hard work our shop does."
When the commercial was filmed in November, Visa rented out the shop space for a few hours before Feral opened for the day. Funkhouser says he just wanted the crew out by 10 a.m. so that the store could open at its usual time.
"In this case, it was kind of funny because they came in in the morning to do the shoot and got set up," Funkhouser says. "We kind of just vacated the space and said we were going to go to a coffee shop. When we came back, they were done. We had no idea Peyton Manning was involved in the commercial until we saw it like everyone else. We didn't know the content of the commercial."
Funkhouser says he doesn't watch a lot of TV, and only saw the commercial for the first time recently. Feral announced it on its Instagram last week, sharing the video with the caption, "Anyone peep their favorite local Denver outdoor gear shop in a big commercial lately?"
"I'm a huge sports junkie and a big Peyton Manning fan," Funkhouser notes. "Having grown up in Indiana during his prime and then living in Denver during his Bronco years was pretty special. Having someone like that affiliated with us is pretty cool. We're a small business, so it's a really big deal to us. Sure, it would be great if our logo was in the background, but it's an honor."
In a way, the commercial is also a fun nod to beloved Denver bowling alley Elitch Lanes (RIP), Funkhouser adds. When Feral moved down Tennyson from its original home, it was shortly after the Elitch Lanes property was bought by Natural Grocers; Funkhouser happened to be walking by when the bowling alley was demolished. "They were literally shucking bowling lanes into the dumpster," he says, adding that it was heartbreaking to see the bowling alley that used to be an iconic spot for a first date or a cheap beer be torn apart. Funkhouser asked the people working on the construction project if he could take one of the bowling lanes, and they said to wait until they left.
"So I went back and took one. We ended up making our first-ever register counter out of that bowling lane," Funkhouser says. The store doesn't use it anymore because the counter is now too small for Feral's needs, but it's still kept around for sentimental reasons. When the people from Visa saw it, they wanted to use it in the commercial. "The wood you see in the commercial is actually from Elitch Lanes," Funkhouser says. "It was our way of honoring Elitch Lanes and the history of this neighborhood."
The Visa commercial actually isn't the first time Feral has been the backdrop for a professional film crew. The store was also recently used in an indie movie that hasn't made it to the market yet. All Funkhouser can say is that the film involves a main character who owns an outdoor supply shop.
