The football season just started, but Doritos is already thinking about the Super Bowl.
The snack chip brand run its “Crash the Super Bowl” contest for a sixth consecutive year. It allows U.S. viewers to submit their own Doritos commercials and fans to vote on their favourites to appear during the big game.
If the ads score well on the USA Today Ad Meter, contestants win cash prizes of up to US$1 million.
This year, Doritos has added a twist: It has enlisted Andy Samberg, a comedian on Saturday Night Live, and his musical troupe The Lonely Island to create an ad to compete in the contest.
If Lonely Island’s ad wins, they’ll donate the prize money to charity. If they don’t, they’ll work with the winners on a future yet-to-be-determined Doritos project.
“I see this year as really us raising the stakes a little bit,” said Tony Matta, vice-president of marketing. Instead of just cash and recognition, he says winners will get “a career-changing opportunity.”
The Super Bowl is advertising’s largest showcase; the football championship garnered a record 111 million viewers in the U.S. when it aired on Fox in February, according to Nielsen.
The brand, which is made by PepsiCo‘s Frito-Lay division, saw video submissions for the contest increase 38% to 5,600 for the most recent game played earlier this year. The contest finalists’ videos were viewed 22 million times. Doritos also saw a 30% increase in Twitter activity and a 25% increase in Facebook activity during the contest.
Samberg said The Lonely Island agreed to work on the campaign in part because the Super Bowl is “such a large stage,” and he added “we just thought it was cool that young filmmakers get an opportunity to get that break.”
