Frito-Lay has crowned five winners from the Super Bowl, all of them finalists in its Doritos ad contest.
Frito ran two of the spots from its “Crash the Super Bowl” ad contest during the game on Sunday. Now it’s airing all five finalists’ spots in the first-ever consumer-generated ad campaign.
The contest was designed to air just one thirty-second spot, the consumer-generated Doritos ad that earned the most votes online (PROMO Xtra, Sept. 15, 2006). But the scores for the top two spots were so close that Frito decided to air them both. Now all five consumer-made ads will run nationally through March.
“The goal of this program was to give consumers an opportunity to express themselves and showing both of these ads showcases the enormous talent that stepped up for Doritos,” said Ann Mukherjee, Frito-Lay’s vice president of marketing, in a statement.
The top vote-getter was Live the Flavor, created by Wes Phillips, 22, and Dale Backus, 21, of Cary, NC, on a $12 budget. The No. 2 spot, only a few hundred votes behind, was Check Out Girl, created by Kristin Dehnert, 37, of Pacific Palisades, CA.
Joining the rotation are A Chip Lover’s Dream (Jared Cicon, Claremont, CA), Duct Tape (Joe Herbert and Dave Herbert, Batesville, IM) and Mouse Trap (Billy Federighi, Beverly Hills, CA). Frito fielded over 1,000 entries to the contest last fall. Millsport, Dallas, handled the contest, which ran on Yahoo Video. Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein, Los Angeles, handles Doritos’ ads.
“We would have been proud to air any of the finalists’ Doritos commercials during the Super Bowl,” Mukherjee said. “So, we decided to continue our commitment to putting our fans in control, and air each of the ads on national television.”
The company won’t say how much money it’s putting behind the ad flight, but the company spent a mere $4,000 on Doritos TV spots in the first quarter last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Frito spent less than $1 million on measured media for the brand for the whole quarter, the bulk of it ($650,000) online and another $300,000 on radio, reports TNS Media Intelligence. Frito spent $11.7 million on all measured Doritos advertising in the first nine months of 2006.
The spots also will appear on Doritos’ new Web site, SnackStrongProductions.com, a branding site that promises to take snacking to a higher level, “From producing the finest in chip-themed promotions to creating original, snack-friendly entertainment.” This site will also will host the voting for Doritos’ “Fight for the Flavor” promotion.
Frito also ratchets up consumer control with an in-store contest that lets shoppers pick which new flavor, Cheddar BBQ chips or Wild White Nacho chips, will stay on-shelf. Consumers will vote online to see which flavor, both which debut in March, stays. “Fight for the Flavor” breaks Feb. 26.
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