Doritos Puts up $1 Million for Consumer-Created Doritos Commercial that Beats Seasoned Ad Pros During Super Bowl XLIII

Doritos Puts up $1 Million for Consumer-Created Doritos Commercial that Beats Seasoned Ad Pros During Super Bowl XLIII

Brand Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is - Cash Prize Up for Grabs if Consumer-Generated Doritos Ad Takes the No. 1 Spot in USA TODAY's Ad Meter

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Doritos brand today announced it is once again giving complete control of its Super Bowl ad air time to its fans. But this time, the snack chip brand is raising the stakes and underscoring its confidence in the creativity of its fans. In addition to airing one fan's self-made Doritos ad to a captive audience of millions, Doritos will give that talented winner $1 million if their :30 spot takes down "the big guys" and becomes the first-ever consumer-created commercial to claim the No. 1 ranking in USA TODAY's annual Ad Meter.

"We've always believed our fans have the talent and passion to compete at the highest level, and we are putting $1 million on the table to demonstrate our confidence and also help our winner fulfill their own destiny," said Ann Mukherjee, group vice president, marketing, Doritos. "Whether it goes toward funding a short film, opening an ad agency or anything in between, we're empowering them with an unmatched stage to compete on and a motivation to make it happen."

Five finalists' ads will be announced in January 2009. Then it will be up to fans to vote for their favorite ad online and determine the winning Doritos spot to air during the Super Bowl XLIII broadcast on February 1, 2009 on NBC. Each of the five finalists will win $25,000 and a trip to Tampa Bay, Florida to attend Super Bowl XLIII in a private luxury suite at the game, where they will tune in to learn for the first time which ad won when it airs for a worldwide audience. Beginning today, details about the advertising challenge are available at http://www.snackstrongproductions.com/.

Participants can upload :30 commercials that share their love for Doritos tortilla chips to http://www.snackstrongproductions.com/ from October 3, 2008 to November 16, 2008 to be considered for the coveted spot that has changed the lives of Doritos fans. To help entrants amp up their creative masterpieces, the site also houses a toolbox where Doritos logos, product shots, music and animations are available for download and use.

The USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter tracks the second-by-second responses of a panel of viewers to ads during the national broadcast of the Super Bowl and ranks them favorite to least favorite. Created in 1989, USA TODAY's Ad Meter has been regarded as the most influential Super Bowl ad rating in the advertising industry.

The "Crash the Super Bowl" campaign is the evolution of the Doritos brand allowing consumers to be in control. In 2007, the Doritos brand aired its first consumer-created commercial during Super Bowl XLI, as part of the first Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge. That same day, the brand aired a second commercial to kick-off the first-ever consumer-created Doritos brand television ad campaign, in which all five of the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" finalists' ads aired on national television. Earlier this year, Doritos launched the music career of one of its talented fans by airing her original song in a music video during its Super Bowl XLII air time as part of its second annual "Crash the Super Bowl" program.

In addition to the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge, in 2007 the brand put consumers in control with programs such as Doritos "Fight for the Flavor," which invited Doritos fans to determine which of two new flavors survived on store shelves and which one was pulled. Then, the brand launched the Doritos "X-13D Flavor Experiment," where consumers had a chance to name a new mysterious flavor of Doritos tortilla chips, followed by "Unlock Xbox," which empowered fans to design the first-ever consumer-created Xbox LIVE(R) Arcade game.

This year, "THE QUEST" campaign gave Doritos lovers a unique opportunity to choose how and when to get engaged in a multi-faceted program that had online and real world challenges. Fans were in control of how they participated in "THE QUEST" in everything from guessing a mystery flavor to solving virtual puzzles and competing in real-life adventures. In addition, Doritos put control into the hands of its consumers through a programming partnership with MTV.

Frito-Lay North America is the $11 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo, which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade and Tropicana.

Source: Frito-Lay North America

CONTACT: Chris Kuechenmeister of Frito-Lay, +1-972-334-2044,
Chris.Kuechenmeister@fritolay.com

Web site: http://www.snackstrongproductions.com/

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