Folgers’ annual jingle contest doesn’t usually get much attention but it’s actually one of the biggest video contests in the world.  In 2011, the contest received more than 3,000 entries.  Now that I think about it, this year’s Crash the Super Bowl contest only got about 3,000 submissions.  So it’s very possible that the 2013 Folgers Jingle contest was BIGGER than the 2013 Doritos contest.  That’s kind of surprising since Doritos literally offers millions of dollars in prizes in “The Crash” but Folgers only gives out one prize of $25,000.  Folgers probably gets so many entries because their contest is so easy to enter.  You don’t have to hire actors or write a script.  All you have to do is perform your own version of the classic “The Best Part of Waking Up…” jingle.  Oh my God.  Can you imagine being a judge in that contest?  I’d never want to drink a drop of coffee again after hearing thousands of people perform the same song over and over and over.

The judges that didn’t go insane selected and announced a slate of 10 finalists back in March.  Then there was a month-long public voting period.  But…votes didn’t actually determine the winner in this contest.  The judges made the final pick and contests just got a few extra points if they did well in the voting.  The winning musician is named Sawyer Frye and he’s from Carthage, NC.  Here’s his video:

Folger’s Grand Prize Winner.  Prize: $25,000:

Holy crap.  Wait a second, that was sort of amazing, wasn’t it?  I just now realized that I recognized the guy who won that contest.  Last fall I did a blog post about a music video he did that won a contest sponsored by FireHouse subs.  His FireHouse entry was so good that I said something like “If this guy keeps entering contests he’s going to make a fortune.”  Guess I was right about something for a change!

Folgers really milked this contest and they made all of the finalists appear in little biographical videos.  If you want to watch any of these or if you want to see the other nominated jingles, head here.

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