When I called out Doritos for its dopey and overproduced Super Bowl 2023 commercial with its trite focus on “triangles,” I did not expect a response. But now, a year and a half later, Doritos has replied to my tweet.
Try-hard-angles? Genius. Now we need you to try harder—https://t.co/msPtjoWdZN #DoritosCrash
— Doritos (@Doritos) September 19, 2024
Doritos, with its history of producing commercials ripe for critique, is now offering a cool million bucks to the winner of its “Crash the Super Bowl” ad contest.
From the contest web page:
Everyone thinks creating a Doritos® Super Bowl spot is so easy. We’ve seen the comments. Heard the chatter. Well, now it’s time for you to walk the talk and prove that you are the creative mastermind you think you are.
This got me thinking.
My first thought: Sorry, Doritos, but I don’t work for free.
My second thought: OK, Doritos, I’mma beat you down in 15 minutes.
Building a better Doritos ad
I saw the Doritos tweet around 11:30 p.m. after I had already gone to bed.
By 11:45, still in bed, I had nailed down my concept and most of the script.
I’d started by asking myself: What do I think when I think of Doritos?
The answer was, “Doritos make me happy.” It’s true. Pretty much no matter what I am doing, if I am offered a Dorito, my day gets better. They’re just so fun: a fun shape, a fun color, a fun crunch, and a fun spicy taste.
Even the orange dust is fun.
The execution of my 30-second spot would include five or six mini vignettes, each showing people whose day was made better by Doritos.
Here is the script:
Title: “Doritos Make Everything Better”
Spot Length: 30 seconds
Scene 1
Location: A house party
Characters: A young man (Trevor), a group of friends at a party
Action: Trevor arrives at a party with a bag of Doritos. He rings the doorbell and the front door opens. The partygoers see the bag and cheer.
Dialogue: Partygoers: “Yayyy!”
Scene 2
Location: A sunny hilltop overlooking a scenic view
Characters: A young couple (Sarah and Ben) having a picnic
Action: Sarah pulls a bag of Doritos out of a picnic basket. Ben beams at her and exclaims, “Yeah!”
Scene 3
Location: A chaotic kitchen
Characters: A 30-something mom (Maria)
Action: Maria enters the kitchen and is overwhelmed by the mess. Clothes and school supplies are scattered everywhere, and dishes are piled in the sink. Maria sighs and spots a half-eaten bag of Doritos on the counter. She picks it up, pops a chip, and makes a satsified sound.
Dialogue: Maria, her face ecstatic: “Mmmhh!”
Scene 4
Location: A correctional facility (prison)
Characters: A middle-age male prison guard (Luis)
Action: A forlorn prison guard trudges down a long, gray hallway to a vending machine. He sees a bag of Doritos inside, inserts his money, and presses a button. As he pulls his bag of Doritos out of the machine, a small smile crosses his face.
Scene 5
Location: A softly lit bedroom
Characters: A high school-age boy (Michael) and his girlfriend (Ayumi)
Action: Michael is sitting on Ayumi’s bed, holding a bag of Doritos. Ayumi is standing, looking uncomfortable.
Dialogue: Ayumi: “It’s over.”
Action: Michael reaches into the bag. As he crunches into a Dorito, his sad expression transforms into a satisfied smile.
Scene End: The scene fades out with Michael happily munching on his Doritos, seemingly oblivious to the breakup.
Closing shot
The Doritos logo appears on a white screen accompanied by bags of Nacho Cheese-flavor and Cool Ranch-flavor Doritos and the slogan:
“Doritos. Make Everything Better.”
Fin.
Why this Doritos ad works
Is this ad a Super Bowl award winner? Probably not if judged on the basis of glitz and glam, the inclusion of a nonsensical storyline, and pseudo-celebrity star power.
But compared to a lot of Super Bowl TV commercials, it’s an objectively better ad.
(And at a cost of more than $7 million just for 30 seconds of airtime, Super Bowl advertisers ought to want to make their ads as effective as possible.)
I like that my ad is understated — in sharp contrast to most Super Bowl fare. It’s fast-moving and full of variety. Engaging and relatable. It’s simple and clear and puts the product front and center in every scene.
Sometimes, the most straightforward approach is the most memorable.
Most important of all, this ad doesn’t make anyone look like a jackass — or feel like a jackass for having watched it.
To use a favorite phrase of mine, it’s like a wink and a smile, not a clown sharting its pants.
(For examples of the latter, look no further than past award “winners” on the Doritos contest page — or turn on your TV.)
By the way, if you’d like to read the Super Bowl live blog that started all of this, you can find it here. Check it out — my live blogs are a lot of fun, and I humbly submit that advertisers who want to improve their craft could learn a lot from reading them.
Videographers and AI wizards wanted: Let’s make this Doritos ad a reality!
Are you a talented videographer or AI enthusiast looking to showcase your skills? Then I invite you to join me in bringing this Doritos ad to life.
Due to the variety of locations and situations, I was thinking that AI-powered video may be the most efficient and economical way to go — but I’m open to suggestions.
Let’s crash the Super Bowl together. Who knows? Maybe we’ll win a million bucks.
If you are interested in collaborating, send an email to Rob@TheCrankyCreative.com.
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It sounds like a great idea, but doesn’t meet the bar set by ad agencies i.e., sheer idiocy drenched in wokeness.
Nailed it, Anonymous. Those do seem to be the main ingredients in TV advertising today.
who owns hollywood and everything else? the same people who created weimar germany who had all the same problems we have today. and those people celebrate weimar like it was a paradise to this day, well it was for them just not for germans.
Batta batta batta batta batta ss-wing batter
Honestly, the bar is set so stupidly low in advertising today that it doesn’t take much to come up with a better, more memorable ad idea. Like playing softball with children rather than fastball with the pros.
Where’s the wokeness? Lol
Sorry, Blackrock, but there’s not enough ESG money in the world to make me sell out like that. Ha!
I sure hope this works. I think they’re great ideas. Good luck!💁🏻♀️
Thanks! If nothing else, it would be fun to see this ad come to life.