Doritos announced semi-finalists in its annual “Crash The Super Bowl” contest that pits consumer-made ads against each other for a shot at a commercial slot at the Super Bowl. This year the contest went global and allowed entries from any country. Three Canadians are among the finalists.
Along with the prestigious ad slot, $1 million is up for grabs, as is the chance to work on set for Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers: Age of Ultron film. From the list of semi-finalists, five finalists will be chosen and flown to the game New Jersey Prior to that, consumers will get to vote on the winner.
Here’s a look at the three Canadians who made the cut.
“Mermaid”
“Mermaid” was created by Nelson Talbot, a cinematographer from Langley, B.C. Talbot is one half of the Talbot Twins, a production duo comprised of Nelson and his twin brother Graham. The two have made a slew of short films and music videos and several ads (check out this Sony spec ad here to get a feel for their work). In the ad, two buddies are out on a lake fishing. When they drop Doritos into the lake, a beautiful mermaid appears. It has 8,000 views so far.
“The Most Generous Man”
“The Most Generous Man” was made by Quebec’s Sylvain Lebeau, owner of the Montreal-based visual effects and post production company Shed. Lebeau’s company has worked on several big brand spots, including this recent Sid Lee Burger King spot and this Pizzaghetti Sloche ad by DentsuBos. The spot follows two characters in a waiting room as they compete to be more generous with their bags of Doritos. The ad has 11,000 views to date.
“Chips Before Chicks”
“Chips Before Chicks” comes via Vancouver’s Bradley Friensen, who was also the first entrepreneur to ink a deal with all five of the “dragons” on CBC’s Dragons Den for his company Last Call, a hangover cure (watch his appearance on the show here). The spot features a protagonist dropping down from a helicopter onto a boat full of bikini-clad women, who he then pushes away to get at a bag of Doritos. It currently has more than 111,000 views.
