As always, the Super Bowl is as much an advertising event as it is a sports event. Over the years, the anticipation over the ads has grown -- in some circles to higher levels than the anticipation for the actual game. And while a laundry list of advertisers were willing to shell out an astronomical $3 million per ad slot for their best and biggest ads of the year, Doritos has returned to a fan favorite that is fast becoming a tradition: crowdsourcing.
Doritos did this for the first time during Super Bowl XLI in 2007. The five finalists were each awarded $10,000 and flown to the big game to enjoy live at a private party. Last year, Doritos switched from video to music (based around the brand's official MySpace page, by soliciting participants to submit original songs to be used in their ad.
This year the Doritos contest is bigger then ever, all the way around. Out of 1,961 videos submissions (all of which are posted on Doritos Crash the Super Bowl Contest Website), the five finalists were awarded $25,000 each -- two of which, "Free Doritos" and "Power of the Crunch," aired during the Super Bowl.
But the contest managers raised the stakes by adding in some additional insentive: a $1 million bonus prize for a crowdsourced ad that has what it takes to trump the professionals and take the number one slot in USA TODAY's Ad Meter.
The Ad Meter tracks real time voting by users to rank the popularity of Super Bowl ads.
And while the Doritos finalists were competing against some old favorites (like the Budweiser Clydesdale) and some new hot properties (Alec Baldwin's ad for Hulu), in the end, the winners were clear: two unemployed brothers from Batesville, Indiana took home the prize over a field of Madison Ave. professionals - to say nothing of $1 million.
The success of this contest (and the ability of two amateurs to show up the advertising establishment) will undoubtedly throw more fuel on the Doritos/Frito-Lay crowdsourcing fire, that is now fast becoming a popular part of the brand's identity. It makes one wonder just how much longer before other brands do more to take advantage of this same type of eager talent pool.
No need to feel too bad for the three finalists whose ads do not run during the actual game. According to advertising team at Frito-Lay, they will be spotlighting all five finalists' ads as part of the brand's 2009 ad campaign.
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