Doritos contest finalists campaign to win a Super Bowl ad spot
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From "Bird of Prey" by Joby Harris -
From "Dog Park" by Tyler Dixon -
Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, of The Lonely Island, on the set of a promotional shoot for Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl," Sept. 26 in New York. -
Last year's Doritos "Crash The Super Bowl" winners J.R. Burningham, left, and Tess Ortbals kick off this year's contest in Times Square, Sept. 26 in New York.
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It's campaign season again and the candidates are trying not to go negative.
"Just to have gotten this far is pretty amazing," said an upbeat Jonathan Friedman, a Virginia Beach, Va., resident who spent hours last year trying to get an untrained Great Dane with a mind of its own to help deliver his vision of the perfect message.
Mr. Friedman plans to take the high road in this election, but he couldn't help dishing a little. "We basically had to trick Huff (the dog) into doing everything we needed him to do."
Trickery? Is this a candidate that Americans can support?
The five finalists are off and campaigning in the sixth (believe it or not) annual Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. These regular folks are trying to get votes for the commercials they made, with the winner's work getting a spot on the nation's most watched television event.
PG VIDEOThe world has evolved since PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division first tried getting consumers to make Super Bowl ads, back at the dawn of the consumer-generated-commercial contest fad. Some companies have moved on to other marketing ideas or focused more on building cliques on social media.
The Doritos contest has been around long enough that it's almost a tradition, a place where people with dreams of making it into the ad business or even films go to establish credibility. Is it "American Idol?" Not exactly. No Carrie Underwoods or Kelly Clarksons have launched major careers after making the best chip spot -- yet.
But it could happen, the contestants insist.
"This industry is so much who you know," said Joby Harris, a Saxonburg native who left town years ago to chase his dreams of working in the film industry in Los Angeles and is now one of the finalists. "And Doritos is providing that door."
To reach the pinnacle -- to get that commercial shown during the big football game on Feb. 5 -- contestants have to work. And if their campaigning gives the chips maker a lot of the buzz that makes the contest more than a 30-second spot on NBC, well, it's a tradeoff.
The Doritos folks set the rules, sat through 6,100 entries and offered both marketing advice and some funding for the campaigns. They brought the finalists to Los Angeles in late December to spend a day learning to tell their story to the media and to drum up votes. Mr. Harris said the boot camp forced him to consider whether he just wanted to enjoy being a finalist or if he wanted to win.
He decided he wants to win, even if he hopes to enjoy the experience -- and the $25,000 finalist prize and the free trip to the Super Bowl -- too. Bottom line: "If you don't get the most votes, you're not going to get shown."
Frito-Lay gives the finalists more reasons to do well. If their ad wins, they also get to work on a future project with The Lonely Island creative team that includes "Saturday Night Live" cast member Andy Samberg.
And if their ad comes in at the top of the unaffiliated USA Today Ad Meter's ranking of popular Super Bowl ads, they can win $1 million. Frito-Lay has been pleased that a number of its contest ads have done well in rankings of popular Super Bowl spots.
The snack company gives voters incentives, too. Every 100,000th vote on the way to 1 million votes in the contest could win $10,000. (That might be a way to improve participation in presidential elections).
Like recent presidential contests, the way the Doritos candidates are reaching voters has changed over the years. Contestants are tweeting, Facebooking and blogging, in addition to more traditional publicity such as doing media interviews and getting their mothers to hand out fliers to the neighbors.
"My mom is just going to win this for me," said a laughing Mr. Harris, whose mother, Marge Sellers, lives in Sewickley and has been an enthusiastic supporter.
To drum up votes for his "Birds of Prey" video -- in which a man who craves the snack product turns into a hungry predator, chasing down chips with his elbows back in wing formation -- Mr. Harris has been tapping into various networks that he's connected with during years spent working with bands, assisting on film projects, touring with the Promise Keepers evangelical organization and attending his local church.
"It's definitely a George Bailey moment for me," he said, referring to the character in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," who is helped in a tough spot by all the people whose lives he's touched.
One of the other finalists -- Kevin T. Willson, who created the "Sling Baby" ad where a baby grabs a Doritos bag from a mouthy sibling -- is a friend. They've split some of the vote, Mr. Harris said.
He was planning to fly into Pittsburgh this week where he hopes to do media interviews and maybe tap into his roots at Knoch High School and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he studied. His father lives in Dubois, so that's another possible source of voters.
Experience can help. Tyler Dixon, a San Diego native, was a finalist last year. He didn't win but he did meet another finalist who became his girlfriend.
He is back again to prove he's not a one-hit wonder. Surely being a finalist a second time will convince those who make the hires and sign the checks in the commercial business.
He's also adapting his strategy. Mr. Dixon thinks the first ad may have been too polarizing. In it, an office worker licked Doritos residue off another colleague's finger. People loved it or hated it.
"This year I tried to go a little bit more mainstream," he said. His spot, called "Dog Park," involves people starting to do tricks to earn Doritos. It was filmed at the school where his mother is a teacher, and local pets star in the spot.
He's feeding a steady supply of fresh content to supporters, from extra footage from the filming to videos submitted by fans to the spot's Facebook page. He tweets regularly, trying to keep appeals for votes couched in humor. Under the contest rules, voters can weigh in several times daily until the end of January, using their PCs, mobile phones and other wired devices.
"Literally, I have been working every working moment," Mr. Dixon said. "Luckily, I'm unemployed," he said, then started laughing. "That's the first time in my life I've said that."
He's got his networks, too, including friends, family and anyone connected with the filming. Then there are the basset hound lovers who might appreciate his video. "How often is a basset hound the hero of something?" he asked.
Dogs do seem to be a theme. They also appear in finalist Brad Scott's "Hot Wild Girls" spot, which includes rottweilers.
Mr. Friedman has his own business as a freelance graphic designer so he's trying to do his campaign work in between getting his regular jobs done.
He, too, built his commercial around a dog, the aforementioned Huff who skipped training school. The Great Dane looks smart anyway in the commercial in which the dog uses Doritos to bribe a man. The magic of video.
Mr. Friedman is looking forward to attending his first Super Bowl. In a typical year, he hosts a party for the game -- and pays close attention to the commercials.
He would like to think his video will win because people like it, although he offers up that Pittsburghers might want to consider that he's the only finalist who lives on the East Coast.
Even as Mr. Harris highlights his Pittsburgh connections, he admits he moved west long ago -- before the region became a hot film location.
Mr. Dixon, the two-time finalist, is also hoping people will embrace his ad. "Just tell people to vote," he said, then went on to deliver a message smartly tailored to his audience.
"I know I'm not from Pittsburgh but I'm a working guy trying to break into an industry."
First Published January 12, 2012 12:00 am
