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Doritos announces 24 (surprisingly offensive) Crash the Super Bowl semi-finalists

Posted by Dan L. on December 5th, 2013

A typical Doritos fan

I had really high hopes for this year’s Crash the Super Bowl contest. FritoLay had made a lot of nice changes to the competition and for the first time ever, filmmakers from outside of the US were allowed to submit entries. I thought all that new talent would yield a fresh and fun slate of winners. But this afternoon Doritos unveiled a set of 24 Semi-Finalists and most of the ads they picked are pretty terrible. A lot of them lack punchlines or decent stories and many are just or . I can look past ads that are simply lame or unoriginal but some of the winners are downright, straight-up offensive. A few of them are so inappropriate that they could never in a million years air during the new, family-friendly Super Bowl. But what’s really shocking is just how misogynistic many of these ads are. As you watch these videos, keep in mind that views and votes had zero impact on which entries made the Top 24. A panel of judges from FrioLay and the ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, picked all of these commercials by themselves. Let’s start with a semi-finalist from Israel that would never, ever get approved by American censors:
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Ha Ha. That guy’s girlfriend is a slut! His best friend is also a bastard but the best friend gets forgiven because hey, (imaginary) boys will be boys. I wonder if that guy is going forgive his girlfriend too? Eh…doesn’t matter. That girl was nothing but a prop for the men to fight over. She hold less value than a $2.50 bag of chips.

But the sexist subtext isn’t even the worst thing about this video. The whole point of the Crash the Super Bowl contest is to find commercials that could air during the SUPER BOWL. There’s absolutely zero chance that CBS would ever broadcast a commercial that included the word “bastard,” a post-make-out zipper sound effect or a totally unnecessary up-skirt panty shot of a floating girl. FritoLay received more than 4,000 Crash the Super Bowl entries this year. Couldn’t they find 24 ads that could make it past the censors?

Now if you thought that was too hot for TV, check out this semi-finalist from Australia:
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Personally I like this one. It’s freaky but it’s freaky in a good way. It looked professional, it was clever, it was unique and it had a big, insane punchline. This video is so crazy that it actually went viral BEFORE it even made the top 24. A few days ago it got posted on a ton of popular sites and now it has more than a million views.

But let’s be serious here. That commercial was about a glory hole for fingers! Can you imagine what would happen if millions of Americans saw that during the Super Bowl? If Janet Jackson’s nipple could cause people to freak out, a fat dude sucking a phallic finger through a hole in the wall might break the 7th seal and usher in the beginning of the end times.

But like I said, at least that one is funny. This Canadian semi-finalist features a punchline that only a serial killer could love:
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I’m not going to mince words. That’s some fucked up shit right there. I like dark humor and if this idea had been executed a little differently it could have been a great submission. It’s an extremely well made video and the editing is perfect. But there are a few little elements that just make my skin crawl. The actress was amazing and her eyes were filled with so much love and sweetness. And then he main character murders her. But here’s the worst thing about this entry; why is the dead mermaid so sexy!? Was the under-boob and cheesecake pose really necessary?? I know that she’s a mermaid and not a human and I know it’s just a wacky commercial but for christssakes….a guy killed a beautiful woman and hung her half naked body on the wall. She is literally his “trophy.” This one will never air on TV but if it did, I think women across the country would (rightfully) raise hell over that “joke.”

Here’s another semi-finalist that’s weirdly misogynistic. This one’s also from Canada:
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I guess that did kind of feel like a Super Bowl commercial….from 1985. I enjoy seeing sexy ladies in super tiny bikinis as much as the next guy but sexist commercials like this one have been out of style for at least 20 years. Like I keep saying, I know these are just goofy contest entries but it’s just not cool to show a man pushing over a scantily clad woman so he can steal her Doritos. Violence against women, even cartoony violence, doesn’t belong in a chip commercial. Yes the Kate Upton look-a-like gets her revenge in the end but that doesn’t make this concept ok. It’s not funny, it’s not original and it’s not appropriate.

I don’t know if Doritos had a few, undercover women-haters on their judging panel this year or what but here’s another semi-finalist that’s based on the idea that men love Doritos more than pretty ladies. This entry comes from Hong Kong.
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That video might seem harmless but go back and watch the beginning again. WHAT THE HELL WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO THAT POOR GIRL!? She was on the ground screaming in a dark ally while three giant thugs were surrounding her. She looked terrified. Either those guys were going to steal her bag of Doritos or they were about to freaking gang-rape that girl. Look at their eyes. They didn’t look like they were after her chips.

Believe it or not, I’ve got one more semi-finalist that portrays women as worthless and disposable. But this one’s a two-fer because it also manages to mock an entire religion:
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I hate to use the same joke twice in one article but seriously, this feels like a Super Bowl commercial from 1985. The “hot girl” character looked like she was supposed to be a prostitute. Who goes to the mall wearing a tiny, skin tight, hot pink dress, 6 inch heels and a ton of make up? And it always kind of bugs me when writers make jokes about the Amish. Whenever a filmmaker needs a character that doesn’t understand something that’s common in the modern world, you can just make that character Amish! It’s just lazy writing. But this particular ad takes things a step further. These Amish aren’t just clueless rubes. The dad is a dirty old man who lusts after a hot young woman that’s wearing an incomprehensibly sexy dress. That just feels wrong, doesn’t it? Do you think the judges at FritoLay would have picked this ad if it featured a strict Muslim family that had never been to a mall before? Why are the Amish the only religious group that it’s ok to make fun of? (Is it because everyone knows they’ll never see the jokes on TV or online??)

Or consider this; would the judges have picked this ad if the gender roles were reversed? What if a hunky dude got off the elevator and “Ma” pushed Pa in there?

I know that it probably seems like I’m over-analyzing these ads but keep this in mind; 2 of these 24 semi-finalists are going to air during the Super Bowl in February and they’ll be seen by 110 million Americans. So the messages and subtext of these commercials are important. Most of the advertising world got the message a long time ago that goofy sexism is still sexism and that it’s not ok. I can’t really blame the “average joes” who made these ads but I can blame FritoLay for picking some of these commercials. The Crash the Super Bowl contest is being run by some of the smartest and most successful marketing gurus in the world. They should have known that dead mermaid tits don’t belong on TV.

If you’d like to see the rest of Doritos’ semi-finalists, head here:

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VCN reviews the 2013 Crash the Super Bowl finalists

Posted by Dan L. on January 4th, 2013

Well the wait is finally over! At 8PM EST last night Doritos revealed their 5 finalists for the 2012-2013 installment of the Crash the Super Bowl contest. The announcement came in the form of hosted by the “Doritos Girl” Ali Landry (who somehow looks hotter now than she did in her Dorito ad 15 years ago.) FritoLay saw a MASSIVE drop in the number of entries they received this year and to me it seemed like the pickings were pretty slim. But the Crash the Super Bowl judges managed to put together a decent list of finalists. Each of the 2013 winners will receive $25,000 and a trip for two to the Super Bowl next month. And the finalists are….

1. by Ben Callner of Atlanta, Georgia

2. by Tyler Dixon of Los Angeles, California

3. by Mark Freiburger of Los Angeles, California

4. by Sasha Shemirani of San Diego, California

5. by Joe Taranto of Los Angeles, California

Overall this is a very interesting top 5. All the selected ads feel like Crash the Super Bowl commercials but I suspect that maybe Friotlay brought in some fresh judges this year. These picks are just sorta different than the stuff that normally makes the finals (and that’s a good thing.) Ok, time for my reviews!

GOAT 4 SALE: This might just be my new, all-time favorite Crash the Super Bowl entry. I freaking love this ad. It’s a perfect little 30 second short film. The actors are great, the cinematography is fantastic, the pacing is perfect and the goat is destined to become a super star. One of the best things about this commercial is that it actually does a good job of selling the featured product. Watching Goat 4 Sale makes me want to fill my cabinets with Doritos and scarf down a whole bagful. This year a public vote will choose one Doritos ad to air during the Super Bowl and then Fritolay will pick a second ad that will also air. The team that made Goat 4 Sale shouldn’t even waste their time asking for votes because there is no way in heck that FritoLay won’t chose to run this spot during the big game. This commercial is awesomely hilarious from beginning to end which means it will get a huge score in USA Today’s Ad Meter poll. So if Goat 4 Sale airs during the Super Bowl it will be ranked one of the Top 3 ads of the game and honestly, I think it will actually take the #1 spot in a walk. Plus after the game millions of people would go online so they can re-watch this ad. That shot of the goat screaming will probably wind up being one of the most memorable moments of Super Bowl XLVII.

ROAD CHIP: This one isn’t laugh-out-loud funny but it’s well made and I like it. It’s pretty obvious that this ad was created by a director who really understands what it takes to win the Crash the Super Bowl contest. (He’s made the finals 3 times now!) Obviously super adorable dogs are good and obviously clever babies are good but if you feature a baby and a dog in your ad you’re probably going to score some major points with the focus groups that review the shortlist of potential CTSB finalists. So sometimes it pays to pander! And I’m not trying to sound like a jerk, I’m being serious…this contest is about making a commercial that will be as popular as possible with as many viewers as possible and people just happen to like commercials that feature dogs and babies so filmmakers might as well give the people what they want. I don’t think this ad would make the top 3 on the Ad Meter but I do think it has a better shot than any of the other non-goat-themed finalists.

FASHIONISTA DADDY: This pick really surprised me. I think it’s cute and funny and very slick but it’s not very…oh I don’t know…epic. This seems like the kind of video that might win $7,500 in a Poptent assignment. Usually Crash the Super Bowl ads feel more original than this. The “tough guys dress in drag” premise has been totally done to death, hasn’t it? Why would Doritos pick an ad with such a played out concept? I also don’t see this spot doing very well on the Ad Meter. I think viewers will enjoy it and the wedding dress joke at the end is funny but the Super Bowl is when advertisers bring out their big guns. This ad just won’t be able to beat whatever crazy commercials Bud Light or E-Trade or Volkswagon air. Again, I do sorta kinda like Fashionista Daddy but no one is going to jump on the Internet after the game to re-watch this one.

EXPRESS CHECKOUT: I like this one and I think it’s neat that Doritos actually picked a subtle video that isn’t filled with cute dogs and wacky toddlers. This might sound weird but my favorite part of the ad is when the Kristen Schaal-esque checkout girl whispers “no” to the jerk in line. The director of this ad clearly has a strong talent for directing actors. All the characters play their roles just right. If the jerk in line had been a little jerkier it would have ruined this spot. And if the Kristen Schaal girl hadn’t gotten mad at the jerk it would have made her seem mean. The bad news is that like “Fashionista Daddy” this ad probably wouldn’t score very well on the USA Today ad meter. It’s a nice little short film but it would get lost in the shuffle on Super Bowl sunday.

FETCH: I have mixed feelings about this ad. It’s fun and well made and very amusing but it’s very similar to the 2012 CTSB finalist ad “.” In Hot Wild Girls, two guys gets wishes from a Siri-like smartphone app. They ask for Doritos and they magically appear. Then they ask for some “Hot Wild Girls” and the phone thinks the guy asked for “Three Rottweilers.” So three Rottweilers show up and chase the guys away. It’s pretty obvious that the writer of Fetch was ahem….inspired by Hot Wild Girls. The plots are basically identical; the stars of both ads discover a magical thing that can bring them whatever they ask for. They ask for Doritos and then they ask for hot women. But the magical thing misunderstands and conjures up a scary animal that chases the guys away. I’m really disappointed that Doritos chose to reward such a blatant act of copy-cattery. It’s a funny and well done copy but that doesn’t change the fact that the writer lifted the concept from a previous winner. Ok, just for the heck of it I’ll post Hot Wild Girls. Watch it and decide for yourself whether or not it “inspired” Fetch.

And now, here are a few random observations I have about this set of finalists:

-ONLY 1 REPEAT FINALIST MADE IT THIS YEAR: This is a real surprise. Last year 3 of the 5 selected ads were shot by filmmakers who had already seen their work make the top 5. That’s pretty strange when you consider that last year the odds of making the finals were about 1 in 1,200. I did an interview with some of the top CTSB judges and posted an article that outlined the reasons why I thought the Crash kept getting so many repeat winners. (For example, past winners had become friends with many of the judges during their trip to the Super Bowl.) I don’t know if Doritos changed the way that they pick their finalists but I have a feeling that something was done about the problem since a lot of former finalists entered again but only one made the top 5. UPDATE: Several sharp-eyed readers have messaged me to let me know that Fasionista Daddy was actually created by several guys that are affiliated with a team from Mosaic Church in LA who have written and produced 3 or 4(!) previous Crash the Super Bowl finalists including “Sling Baby” which won a million dollars last year. So….these dudes won a million bucks last year and even that didn’t get them to retire.

-THE DIRECTOR OF “ROAD CHIP” HAS MADE THE FINALS 3 YEARS IN A ROW: The one former finalist who did manage to make the top 5 again this year is Tyler Dixon. Dixon has now managed to make the finals in 2013, 2012 and 2011. (That might sound shocking but last year a director named Kevin Willson made the finals for a 3rd time.) Dixon’s entries are always pretty good but it’s impossible to deny that being a former finalist has given him a tremendous advantage over the rest of the filmmakers in this competition. Another former finalist (that Dixon met at the Super Bowl in 2011) helped him make “Road Chip” and he was able to use his track record and the cash that he’s won to produce a professional-quality commercial. According to the announcement video, Dixon looked at 100 different dogs and auditioned more than 40 toddlers before casting the adorable duo featured in Road Chip. Most CTSB hopefuls have to use their own goofy dog and cast their buddy’s kid. Even the most professional entrants would be lucky to find a few real child actors interested in auditioning. But if you’ve already won this contest twice and if your previous Doritos commercials have already aired on TV the whole process of making an entry becomes much, much easier. Who wouldn’t want to work with someone who has proved that they can get really, really close to winning a million dollars in this contest? Don’t get me wrong, I think Mr. Dixon is a talented guy and Road Chip is a pretty good commercial but just because you can spend a bunch of money and cast the best actors and get the best crew and make the finals every year doesn’t mean you should. If you’ve already created 2 commercials that have aired on TV and if one of those ads actually aired during the SuperBowl then maybe it’s time to relinquish your amateur status, get a manager and become a professional commercial director. You don’t need to keep trying to win a million dollars, just go get a job with an agency and earn a million dollars.

-ONLY 2 OF THE 5 WINNING ADS FEATURED DOGS: Commercials that feature dogs tend to do pretty well on the USA Today Ad Meter so for the last few years Doritos has gone dog-crazy. But this year they only picked 2 dog-themed ads which is a nice change of pace.

-LITTLE GIRLS ARE THE NEW DOGS!: I guess Fritolay must have gotten some focus group data that revealed that people love commercials that feature precocious little girls. Doritos almost never picks ads that feature kids so it is kind of surprising that they’d pick two little girl-themed ads in one year.

-ALL 5 WINNING FILMMAKERS ARE DUDES: Women might make up 51% if the population but they make up 0% of the winners of this year’s Crash the Super Bowl Contest. There’s not really a lot FritoLay can do about this I guess but in the 6 years Doritos has been running this contest I think that only like 3 women have ever made the top 5 and that’s sort of a shame.

-NONE OF THE ADS STAR NON-WHITE ACTORS. Again, I guess there’s nothing much Doritos could do about this but filmmakers….seriously, a little diversity will HELP your entry, not hurt it. Hmm, I wonder if any of the 40 little girls that auditioned for Road Chip where black, Hispanic or Asian. At least the director of Fashionista Daddy took a page out of Bud Light’s playbook and cast a multi-racial group of buddies.

-NONE OF THE FINALISTS ARE VERY “EXPLOSIVE.” When Doritos launched this year’s Crash they implied that contestants might want to make their entries exciting, explosive or action packed since Michael Bay was going to help pick this year’s winners. Well, I guess Michael Bay’s tastes have changed and he now prefers frilly tea parties and giggling toddlers over giant robots and graphic shoot outs.

-ALL 5 FINALISTS WERE UP FOR “NACHO AVERAGE AD AWARDS: Ok, I did not see this coming. All of the entries that made the finals had already been singled out by Doritos and nominated for Nacho Average Ad awards. I really thought that Doritos would keep a few of the finalists in their pocket but I guess if you didn’t make the “Nacho Ad” shortlist you didn’t have a shot of making the final 5.

-I PREDICTED 2 OF THE 5 FINALISTS CORRECTLY!: About 3,000 commercials were submitted to the Crash this year but by golly I was able to spot 2 finalists ahead of time; Goat 4 Sale and Road Chip. I also listed 4 other possible contenders and that list included Fetch. So I did pretty good this year but I’m seriously bummed that didn’t make it. That one was awesome.

Voting is now open and you can vote once a day for your favorite ad from now until January 29th. I’ll be voting for Goat 4 Sale even though I’m sure it’s a lock for the Super Bowl. to watch the finalists and cast your vote. But be warned, Doritos’ facebook app freaking sucks and every time you vote an ad for Doritos will basically pop up in your timeline. After a month your friends are really going to be annoyed with all the “So-and-so cast a vote in the Crash the Super Bowl contest!” messages in their news feed. I’m actually working on an article that explains how Doritos’ Facebook app almost ruined this year’s competition so check back here next week for that story.

One final note; VCN always gets a lot of new readers this time of year. If you’re new to the blog, thanks for visiting! Be sure to bookmark us and/or follow us on Twitter if you’re into that sort of thing:

5 predictions for the 2013 Crash the Super Bowl finals

Posted by Dan L. on December 28th, 2012

This year’s installment of the Crash the Super Bowl contest was kind of a strange one. For some reason there was a massive drop in the number of submissions received. Last year Doritos got more than 6,000 entries for the Crash. But this year they only got about 2,800 entries. I have a pretty good idea why participation for the contest dropped and I’ll be covering that issue in a post in early January. For now I just want to focus on my list of predictions for the 2013. Because there were a lot fewer entries I had a really hard time finding “contenders” that might have a shot of making Doritos official Top 5. But I have to say, some of the contenders I did find are incredibly strong. Usually I pick entries that I think the CTSB judges might like but this year I was able to find several ads that anybody would love. If Doritos’ list of finalists includes a few of these ads they will have made some really excellent choices. Ok, so here now are my 5 predictions for the 2013 Crash the Super Bowl finals. Click on the images below to watch these videos on Facebook. Let’s start with a submission that is actually one of my favorite Crash the Super Bowl ads EVER:

Goat 4 Sale

Goat 4 Sale: If you don’t love this commercial you should go see a cardiologist because you have no heart! I totally love this entry but it also bums be out. I happened to find this submission when I went to the contest page and searched for videos about goats. Why would I do that? Because this year I tried to make a CTSB entry about goats! I tried to think of an animal that was cuter and funnier than a dog and I came up with goats. Our goats wouldn’t cooperate though so we had to abandon the shoot. But my crew and I were planning on trying again next summer. So if this ad makes the finals, Doritos probably wouldn’t pick two goat commercials two years in a row. But oh well. This entry deserves to make the top 5 more than almost any CTSB entry I have ever seen. It’s just a PERFECT little short film. I will be amazed if Doritos doesn’t pick this one. Not only is “Goat 4 Sale” a funny video, it’s actually a great commercial since Doritos get a ton of screen time. So this entry is funny and entertaining and it actually makes me want to buy the featured product….and a goat.

It’s a Trap!

IT’S A TRAP: And here’s another one that I love! This is a great example of what a really good CTSB submission should look like. It’s got a bearded goofball, a simple premise, very little dialogue, a huge, shocking surprise and some cute animals. And like “Goat 4 Sale” it actually does a good job of selling Doritos. “Every living creature loves Doritos!” What more needs to be said?

Road Trip

Road Trip: Usually I get kind of annoyed when the same filmmakers make the finals over and over. But like I said, this year the pickings are kind of slim so I’m gonna cut the Crash judges some slack. Road Trip was made by Tyler Dixon who is a TWO-TIME crash the super bowl finalist. He made the top 5 in 2011 with his enry and he made it again in 2012 with . I’m not really in love with “Road Trip” but it’s really good and I think the judges might pick this one because it would probably score really well on the USA Today Ad Meter. Doritos actually does test screenings of their potential finalists before they make their final picks and I think focus groups are gonna flip for that cute little kid and that hilarious little dog. So high focus group scores might just get this one in the Top 5.

Blow Granny, Blow

Blow Granny, Blow: Here’s another ad made by a former finalist that I think deserves to make the top 5. “Blow Granny, Blow” was created by Brad Bosley who made which was the only 2011 Pepsi Max finalist that I actually liked. Blow Granny, Blow is really professional-looking and it just feels like something you’d see on TV. And again, it’s another spot that would probably do really well with focus groups. It’s got a fantastic grumpy old lady, weird, surprising action and funny shots of people’s faces flopping in the wind. I sort of hope this one makes it just t because it’d be nice if one of the finalist slots went to an ad that didn’t star an animal.

Great Lengths

Great Lengths: This one is kind of my dark horse, wild card pick. It’s entertaining and cute and funny but it’s nothing fancy and it doesn’t have a big twist or shocking gags. But to me it really just feels like a Crash the Super Bowl finalist. And I think kids would freaking go crazy for this commercial. This is the kind of video that a 6 year old kid would make their mom play 10 times in a row.

So that’s my list. As a little bonus, here are a few honorable mentions that I think also have an ok shot of making the finals: , , and . Remember, the real winners will be revealed on January 2nd. Be sure to check back here to see how accurate my predictions were!

UPDATE: The CTSB rules say that Doritos would announce the finalists at (or anytime after) noon on January 2nd. But it turns out the reveal isn’t happening until at 8PM on January 3rd.

How and when will the 2013 Crash the Super Bowl finalists be notified?

Posted by Dan L. on December 19th, 2012

Right now thousands of filmmakers across the United States are all wondering the same thing; “When is Doritos going to start contacting the winners of the Crash the Super Bowl contest?” While no one at Frito-Lay has gone on record and explicitly said when the finalists will be notified, history does give us some clues. Over the years I’ve talked to lots and lots of Crash the Super Bowl finalists and time after time they always tell me the same thing; the finalists get a phone call from Doritos just before Christmas. In many cases it seems like a lot of finalists were contacted around December 21st. But last year Doritos called the winners early. According to one 2011-2012 finalist-team member I talked to “All of the finalists were notified by the Frito-Lay people on Dec. 16.”

I post this information every year and every year I get angry comments and e-mails from hopeful finalists that tell me I’m full of crap. Apparently some people are under the impression that the CTSB winners will find out that they won when the results are revealed on January 4th. But trust me folks, I’ve been running this site for a long time. It has never and will never work that way. When Frito-Lay calls the winners they tell them that they are a “potential” finalist. Before they can be considered an official finalist they first have to submit a bunch of release forms and other paperwork that proves they are actually eligible to enter and win the competition. For example, only US citizens are allowed to enter The Crash. If Doritos violated their own rules and picked a non-citizen as a finalist they could face a class-action lawsuit from all the other contestants who did meet the eligibility requirements. So there’s no chance Frito-Lay will risk something like that. They will have all the winners vetted and locked down weeks before the January 4th announcement.

So I’m sorry to say this but if you don’t hear from Fritolay by 5PM on friday you probably didn’t make the top 5. But don’t let that get you down! You had fun and made a cool video right? Why not build on that experience and go enter another video contest…you know, maybe one that’s 100 times easier to win! Think of the Crash the Superbowl contest like the lottery. It’s fun to enter but the chances of winning are sort of ridiculous. If you actually want to win some money and/or glory in a contest, try one that’s being run by Mofilm, Poptent, Tongal, Womadz, Zooppa or Eyeka or Genero. (Holy crap there are a lot of video contest sites out there.) Some of the contests on these sites offer big prizes but only get a 20 or 30 entries. I’ll take a 1 in 20 chance of winning $7,500 in a Poptent assignment over a 1 in 500 chance of winning $25,000 in the Crash the Super Bowl contest any day.

As I said, the Doritos finalists will official be revealed on January 4th. Be sure to check back here for reviews of all the videos that make the top 5. Plus on January 1st I’ll be post my own list of predictions for the CTSB contest so stay tuned to VCN for lots more Doritos news.

Doritos’ 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2007 Crash the Super Bowl Finalists

Posted by Dan L. on October 8th, 2012

Today is Monday, October 8th which means the 2012-2013 Crash the Super Bowl contest is officially open and accepting entries. As of right you have just 40 days to shoot, edit and upload your Doritos commercials. I’m sure that most of you are already working on your ideas but before you start filming, you should take some time to do a little research. If you want to win the Crash the Super Bowl contest you need to understand what types of ads make the finals. Doritos used to have all the past Crash the Super Bowl winners posted to a single youtube channel but for some dumb reason, those official videos have all been taken down. So if you want to see all the winning ads you’re going to have to hunt for them all over youtube. Or you could just scroll down because I did the hunting for you! Links to every Doritos finalist from the past 6 years are below. I would have just embedded the videos but 30 embedded youtube videos in one post pretty much would crash my site. So each ad is represented by a screenshot. To watch the actual commercials, click on the images:

2011-2012 Doritos Finalists:

Man’s Best Friend by Jonathan Friedman of Virginia Beach, VA.
-Aired During the Super Bowl. WINNER: Million dollar USA Today ad meter bonus

Man’s Best Friend

Sling Baby by Kevin T. Willson of Los Angeles, CA.
-Aired During the Super Bowl. WINNER: Million dollar Facebook ad meter bonus

Sling Baby

Bird of Prey by Joby Harris of Los Angeles, CA.

Bird of Prey

Dog Park by Tyler Dixon of Liegh, UT.

Dog Park

Hot Wild Girls by Brad Scott of Denver, CO.

Hot Wild Girls

2010-2011 Doritos Finalists:

Pug Attack by JR Burningham of Burbank, CA.
-Aired during the Super Bowl. WINNER: Million dollar USA Today ad meter bonus.

Pug Attack

The Best Part by Tyler Dixon of Lehi, Utah.
-Aired during the Super Bowl.

The Best Part

Adam and Eve by Stephen Schuster of Topanga, CA.

Adam and Eve

Birthday Wish by Heather Kasprzak of Los Angeles, CA.

Birthday Wish

House Sitting by Tynesha Williams of Santa Monica, CA.
-Aired during the Super Bowl. WINNER: $400,000 ad meter bonus

House Sitting

2009-2010 Finalists:

Underdog by William Kyle Gerardi of Cary, NC.
-Aired during the Super Bowl. WINNER: $600,000 Ad Meter bonus.

Underdog

Snack Attack Samurai by Ben Krueger of Minneapolis, MN.
-Aired during the Super Bowl.

Snack Attack Samurai

The Smackout by Brendan Hayward of Santa Monica, CA.

The Smackout

Casket by Kevin Wilson of Whittier, CA.
-Aired during the Super Bowl.

Casket

House Rules by Joelle De Jesus of Los Angeles, CA.
-Aired during the Super Bowl.

House Rules

Kids These Days by Nick Dimondi of Cary, NC.

Kids These Days

2008-2009 Finalists:

Free Doritos by Joe Herbert of Batesville, IN.
-Aired during the Super Bowl. WINNER: Million dollar USA Today Ad meter bonus.

Free Doritos

New Flavor Pitch by Oren Brimer of New York, NY.

New Flavor Pitch

Power of the Crunch by Eric Heimbold of Venice, CA.
-Also aired During the Super bowl.

The Power of the Crunch

The Chase by Chris Roberts of Burbank, CA.

The Chase

Too Delicious by Michael Goubeaux of Los Angeles, CA.

Too Delicious

— 2007-2008: No Commercial contest —

2006-2007 Finalists:

1. Live the Flavor by Five Points Productions of Cary, NC.
-WINNER: Aired during the Super Bowl.

Live the Flavor

Check Out Girl by Kristin C. Dehnert of Los Angeles, CA.
-Also aired during the 2007 Super Bowl.

Checkout Girl

Mouse Trap by Billy Federighi of Beverly Hills, CA.
-Aired the next year during the 2008 Super Bowl.

Mousetrap

Chip Lover’s Dream by Jared Cicon of Claremont, CA.

A Chip Lover’s Dream

Duct Tape by Joe Herbert of Batesville, IN.

Duct Tape

Do former finalists have an unfair advantage in Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest?

Posted by Dan L. on February 14th, 2012

See you next fall?

Now that the Super Bowl is over and the final ad meter results are in, the 2011/2012 installment of Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest is officially over. So you know what that means right? It’s time to start thinking about next year’s contest! No seriously…I’m not joking. This year, Doritos gets to boast that they won both of USA Today’s ad meter polls. won the real ad meter and won the online vote. So both the Sling Baby team and the Man’s Best Friend team will be receiving million dollar bonuses. Yeah, ok sure….Sling Baby only won the online poll because the producers of that spot got a small army of people to give bad scores to all the other ads in the competition. But that little fact kind of makes their “win” sound a lot less impressive. So I’m going to guess Fritolay is just going to pretend that stuff didn’t happen and focus on the double victory. And I think that double ad meter victory pretty much guarantees that the Crash will be back this fall.

So for VCN’s final CTSB post of the season, I thought I should revisit a topic that I hope will get a lot of discussion this summer at Fritolay HQ. About three weeks ago I got to do something that thousands of disappointed video contest filmmakers across the country would probably love to do; I got to talk to some of the judges of Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest and ask them about how they select their top five finalists every year. Though I had a million random questions I wanted to ask, our conference call was set up to address just one specific issue: Do former Crash the Super Bowl finalists have an unfair advantage in Doritos’ annual commercial contest?

I’ll go over conversation below but first, here’s why we discussed that particular topic: It turns out that even though Doritos received 6,100 entries last fall, three of the five 2012 finalists had co-written, directed or produced commercials that had made the finals in a previous installment of the contest. One winning ad was actually shot by two 2011 finalists that met at the SuperBowl last year and decided to join forces this time around. Another 2012 finalist, Kevin T. Willson has now seen his work make the finals three years in a row. But what was really amazing is that three winning entries, Dog Park, Bird of Prey and Sling Baby were created by a group of friends that attend the same church in Hollywood. So even though the odds of making the finals were 1 in 1,220, three people who all knew each other and who all had co-created ads that had won this contest in the past managed to win again this year.

And 2012 was by no means a fluke. A surprising number of people have made the finals more than once. In fact, there has been at least one repeat finalist EVERY YEAR for the past four years. Now to be fair, some of the past repeat finalists, without question, made the best entries EVER submitted to the contest. (Specifically I’m thinking of “” and “.”) But in the last two years, things have been getting kind of ridiculous. For instance, there is no question that one 2012 finalist spot, wouldn’t even exist if the director and the producer hadn’t met at the Super Bowl last year. That team won again this year because they made a good entry….but they were able to make that entry BECAUSE they won the contest last year. So now more than ever it feels like the Crash the Super Bowl contest was become an insider’s game where the same group of people all get to take turns being finalists.

After the 2012 results were announced in January I blogged about the repeat winners and explained why I thought former finalists might have an edge over the rest of the people who enter the Crash. Here’s a quick rundown of the reasons I listed:

1. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE JUDGES: When you win the Crash the Super Bowl contest you get to spend several days at the Super Bowl hanging out and partying with the people who actually run the contest. The contest judges get to know the finalists personally and it’s just natural that everyone would get friendly with each other. In my article I theorized that some finalists and some judges may even stay in touch after the game. (Turns out I was correct) I don’t think anyone has ever won this contest because they were pals with one of the judges. But being friends with the people who pick the winners certainly can’t hurt.

2. INSIDE INFORMATION: I suspect that finalists may benefit from talking to the reps from fritolay about the contest during the Super Bowl trip or later in the year if they keep in touch. For instance, I have a feeling that former finalists probably find out (either via hints or direct info) that the CTSB contest will return before that news is made public. If my hunch is correct, past winners basically get a head start over everyone else who enters the contest.

3. MONEY: When you make the Doritos finals you win $25,000. Many finalists turn around and spend a huge chunk of that money on a new entry the following year. For example, the 2012 finalist ad Sling Baby cost about $2,700 to produce and it was made by a director who had already made the finals twice before. So it was easily one of the most expensive commercials submitted to the contest last fall. It’s just not possible (or wise) for Doritos to pick commercials that look crappy so I think people should absolutely be free to spend thousands of dollars on their submissions if they want. However, few people spend that kind of money because it’s just too much of a gamble. But I think former finalists are willing to spend big bucks on their submissions (and I consider anything over $500 to be “big bucks”) because they’re gambling with “the house’s” money.

4. SPECIAL ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND TALENT: Lots of producers have access to money and talent but CTSB winners can get access to those things because of their previous win. This contest can open doors for the people who win it. What actor, crew person or investor wouldn’t want to team up with some who has already made the finals and had their Doritos commercial air on TV? You can’t blame a contestant for taking advantage of opportunities that come to them because they have won the Crash before. But it’s just one more thing that makes the process easier for them. On top of that, as we learned this year, finalists are actually allowed to team up with other former finalists and pool their resources and talent. Now that someone has actually pulled this off, I think we’re going to see more cases this fall where former finalists collaborate and form their own little Super Teams.

The article I posted on January 4th was entitled A Crash the Super Bowl Bummer: Three of the five 2012 finalists were made by past winners and you can read the whole thing by clicking that link. The story quickly became VCN’s most popular post ever and it looks like it was read about 10,000 times (for this site that’s an insane figure.) After it was up for a while, I thought it would only be fair to get Fritolay’s side of the story. So one of their PR reps was good enough to set up a conference call so I could talk directly to two of the people in charge of the Crash the Super Bowl contest; Brian Kuechenmeister who is the head of Public relations for all of Frito-Lay and Jeff Klein who is a senior marketing director for Doritos.

If I were a better writer I would weave their answers into an in depth article about fairness in the Crash the Super Bowl contest. But this is a blog, not Newsweek so I’m just going to hit you with some bullet points. Here’s what I learned from talking to Kuechenmeister and Klein of FritoLay:

1. The two reps were adamant about one point in particular. They said that personal relationships with the judges will not help a finalist make the finals again. They said the official judging criteria listed in the rules are the ONLY thing that matter. Here’s how the rules say entries are score:

1. Originality and Creativity – 40%
2. Adherence to Creative Assignment – 30%
3. Overall Appeal – 30%

2. Some of the people who judge the contest do get to know the finalists during the trip to the Super Bowl. Some judges and some finalists do become friendly and they do stay in touch after the game. One specific example that I was given was that former finalists sometimes update the Doritos team about new projects they are working on. However, the reps also said that they also stay in touch with filmmakers they’ve met who have never won the contest.

3. Former finalists do not get to jump the line. By that I mean that former finalists do not get to send their new entries directly to the judges. I was told that former finalists have to go through the same judging process as everyone else.

4. This one surprised me: The judges know the name of the person who submitted each entry before the final decisions are made. I was told that as long as a former finalist enters under their own name, the judges will know which entry is theirs. This means that the judges know that former finalists have a shot at winning again when they start making their final picks. It also means that there is no surprise moment when the judges realize they just picked the same person’s video for the second or third year in a row. I asked if being a former finalist helped or hurt a person’s chances of winning again. The reps said that issue isn’t a factor during the judging.

5. The rules state that employees or contractors of Fritolay are not eligible to enter the contest if they worked or were contracted by Fritolay in the last 12 months. Even though Doritos purchases all of the winning commercials and airs them for years, finalists are exempt from this rule since the judges consider them to be “contest winners.” So if you are a finalist this year you can be a finalist again next year.

6. EVERYONE who has ever won the Crash the Super Bowl contest is eligible to win again. Even the Herbert Brothers who won the million dollar grand prize can enter again if they want. A former finalist is only ineligible if they were hired by Fritolay to promote the contest that year.

7. I asked if the reps thought that repeat finalists had a financial advantage because they could reinvest their prize money into future entries. They said some people choose to spend a more money on their submissions than other people and that’s up to individual contestants.

That’s a hell of a lot of info and I REALLY appreciate that the reps were so open about the whole process. But I think this contest looks very different to people who are on the “inside.” So I’d like to address a few points from the perspective of any outsider:

First, on the topic of money: If you can get your hands on the right equipment and if you’re willing to spend a few thousand dollars on your submission you’re going to be a serious contender in this contest. And as I’ve said, I think that is totally fair. The winning ads are going to air on millions of HD TVs on Super Bowl sunday! You can’t run an ugly-looking commercial if you want to have a shot of scoring well on the ad meter. During my conversation with the reps from Fritolay, I realized that Doritos NEEDS filmmakers that are willing to make expensive, professional-looking entries. And every year some of the slickest submissions are made by former finalists. I think this is one reason finalists are allowed to enter again the year after they win. It’s like an insurance policy that guarantees that Doritos will always get at least a few tv-quality entries from past winners. If finalists were required to take a year off after winning then Doritos would miss out on those “safe bet” entries.

Now, on the topic of personal relationships with the judges: The thing that bothers me most here is the fact that the judges allow themselves to to become friends with the finalists. And I don’t mean “friendly.” Judges and finalists apparently become actual friends. If you spend a few days with a group of people on a SuperBowl trip you’re just going to naturally bond with them. But as I said, Kuechenmeister and Klein insisted that the judges aren’t picking people for the finals because they all partied together last year. And I believe them 100%. The Crash is a multi-million dollar ad campaign. It would be ludicrous to pick Doritos’ Super Bowl commercial just because the guy who directed it is an awesome dude.

However….the judges in this contest are human beings. Human beings have feelings and human beings have brains that work on a lot of levels. Imagine that you’re a judge in this contest and you’ve got to decide between two commercials. One was made by Potential finalist A and the other was made by Potential Finalist B. Potential finalist A is a total stranger. Potential Finalist B was a finalist in the contest last year. You know that finalist’s name, you’ve met him, you’ve met his girlfriend. You went to parties and concerts and bars with both of them. You watched the Super Bowl from a private skybox together. You got to see the excitement in this guy’s eyes as he waited to see if his commercial was going air during the game. And maybe you got to see the defeat in his eyes when he learned his ad didn’t air or that he didn’t win one of the bonus prizes. Then after the game you stayed in touch. Maybe you even became friends on facebook. If you did, you would get to hear about every up and down in that person’s life. You would know if they were struggling or if they got a great job thanks to the contest. If they didn’t win one of the big prizes you would know if it was their dream to make the finals again and win the million dollars. Maybe you would even offer them encouragement. Maybe part of you looked forward to seeing what Potential Finalist B was going to do this time around.

So…in this scenario, who would you rather be? Potential finalist A or Potential finalist B? Even if the judges TRY to remain totally objective, isn’t it unfair to the other 6,000 contestants that the judges even HAVE TO try to be objective? Wouldn’t it be more fair if they just WERE objective?

I feel like kind of a jerk for even saying this but just now, on a whim I signed into facebook and checked to see if Mr. Kuechenmeister had a profile. He did and it’s set to “public.” I looked at his list of friends and it looks like he is Facebook friends with almost every Crash the Super Bowl finalist from the last 3 years. (He only has about 500 friends so he’s not a public figure or anything that people can just friend out of the blue.) This is relevant for some very important reasons. Brian Kuechenmeister is the head of Public relations for Frito-Lay and he’s one of the top decision-makers in the Crash the Super Bowl contest. I would be willing to bet that no video can even make the finals without his approval. Only a tiny, tiny percentage of people who enter this contest every year will know the names of any of the judges. But if you do know who the judges are, and if are able to stay in contact with them between contests you’re basically setting yourself up to be a front runner next time around.

For example, the reps told me that former finalists don’t send their new entries directly to any of the judges. But when a filmmaker enters the Crash the Super Bowl contest, what’s the first thing he or she does when his or her entry appears in the video gallery? They post the link to their submission on facebook, of course. I checked and that’s what three-time Crash the Super Bowl finalist Kevin Willson did on November 20th last year. Willson is facebook friends with both Kuechenmeister and Klein. Which means that one day before the contest deadline, Fritolay’s head of Public relations and the Senior marketing director for Doritos would have seen this in their facebook feed:

Did Willson do anything wrong here? Hell, no. The guy should be able to post his entries on his facebook page like everyone else. I just think that it’s inappropriate that some of the judges in this contest have chosen to follow the efforts of a handful of contestants. As I’ve said, Doritos received 6,100 Crash the Super Bowl entries this year. It would take one person about 50 hours to watch every, single submission. I’d be amazed if the big wigs at Fritolay watched more than a few hundred entries. They probably only watch the very best submissions. Willson didn’t need to worry about his entry making it past round after round of judging. If just one of the contest judges saw that link on Facebook they would have probably though something like “Well, Kevin’s a contender again this year.” Of course, that would only happen if the entry was any good. But lots of good entries get snubbed every year. If two filmmakers each make excellent submissions and one has to survive multiple rounds of judging before it gets to the head of PR for Fritolay and another can get his entry in front of that person before the submission period is even over, is that really a fair process?

And I think I can offer one more piece of evidence that supports my theory that the people who run this contest just get a little to close to some to the winners. All last month, Doritos had been airing this commercial to encourage viewers to vote in the Crash the Super Bowl contest:

The ad features clips of several entries that have won the contest over the years. But it also includes shots of a few non-winning submissions. I thought the commercial was a fantastic idea when I first saw it. It was awesome of Doritos to showcase the weird and wonderful work of so many past contestants. Sure, it would be incredible to make the finals but just having even a few seconds of your goofy Doritos entry air on TV would be pretty sweet. Plus, it’s fun for viewers to see clips of strange Doritos commercials they’ve never seen before.

But there was one shot in the commercial that seemed familiar to me. I recognized one of the clips but I couldn’t remember why. It took me a while but it finally hit me. I was even able to find the complete submission online:

That entry is entitled “ChainSaw” and it was shot for the 2010/2011 installment of the Crash the Super Bowl contest. It didn’t make the finals. But it was directed by Kevin T. Willson and produced by Heather Kasprzak. Willson has directed ads that made the CTSB finals for the last three years. And Kasprzak has produced ads that have made the finals for the last two years. Kasprzak actually produced Willson’s 2010-11 entry. Between them, Willson and Kasprzak have created FOUR COMMERCIALS that have made the Crash the Super Bowl finals.

So it’s obvious why “Chainsaw” appears in that promo. It was convenient. In the last two years, the Crash the Super Bowl contest has probably received 10,000 entries. But the folks at Doritos knew the producers of “Chainsaw” personally. They didn’t have to dig up their contact info. They could just call them and ask for permission to use that clip. And a post-production intern didn’t have to spend weeks searching for a non-winning entry that had something to do with “love.” I’m sure the judges just remembered that Willson & Kasprzak had shot a high-quality entry that would fit their concept. Heck…maybe this ad even inspired their concept. Oh and as a bonus, Doritos didn’t even have to pay to use the clip. I actually asked and Willson and Kasprzak weren’t compensated for the use of their footage. I’m guessing that’s because if they got paid they would be considered “contractors” and they would not be eligible to enter the contest again next year.

So to someone on the “outside” it looks like Doritos has a few “go-to” filmmakers that they just seem to like to work with every year. Do I think that anyone at Fritolay is actively conspiring to pick the same winners in this contest over and over? Absolutely not. All of the 2012 finalists made entries that were good enough to win…but so did a lot of other people. To win this contest you need to have talent and make an awesome, hilarious, professional looking submission. And Doritos gets lots of awesome, hilarious, professional looking submissions every year. But for some reason it just seems like “the system” favors contestants that have won the Crash before. Former finalists have lots of cash to play with, they are able to work with the best actors and tech people they can find, they may know the contest is happening again before the news is made public and they just happen to be friends with the people who will be picking the winners. So it’s not really surprising that the same people can win two or even three years in a row. But….is it fair?

Man’s Best Friend scores the #1 spot on USA Today’s Super Bowl ad meter!!!

Posted by Dan L. on February 6th, 2012

2012 Crash the Super Bowl winner, Man's Best Friend

It’s about 2:00AM on Monday morning and USA Today just released ~~some~~ ALL of the results of their annual Super Bowl ad meter poll. And guess what?? The Crash the Super Bowl ad, MAN’S BEST FRIEND scored the number one spot!!! That means the creator of that ad, Jon Friedman will win Doritos’ ONE MILLION DOLLAR ad meter bonus! And since his spot was the highest ranking Doritos commercial, Friedman also wins the chance to shoot a project (presumably a Doritos commercial) with the guys from The Lonely Island.

Here’s the entire Top 5 list. It looks like the other Crash the Super Bowl ad, Sling Baby just missed landing “in the money” and came in 4th.

Doritos – Man’s Best Friend – 8.82
Volkswagen – Dog Strikes Back – 8.73
Skechers – Go Run – 8.57
Doritos – Sling Baby – 8.48
M&Ms – Ms. Brown – 8.47

You can see USA Today’s complete ranking here. But let me save you some skimming: “The Tease,” the Dannon Yogurt ad that was shot for a Poptent assignment, came in 13th and “Happy Grad” which was shot for a Chevy contest on Mofilm came in 24th.

So all the “Crowdsourced” ads of Super Bowl 46 did pretty well. But mark my words, Man’s Best Friend’s million dollar win is going to be epic news this week. That commercial was produced for just 20 dollars! I interviewed the director a few weeks ago and he said the only expenses were a few bags of doritos and a cat collar. So man….score one for the little guys!

As I mentioned in my last post (the one I wrote before I knew USA Today would be releasing their results tonight) I explained that there are actually two ad meter polls happening this year. The second poll is being run on facebook and “the public” gets to pick the winners on that one. Doritos has pledged that if “Sling Baby” can score a spot in the top 3 on that poll they will also pay out a bonus prize to the director of that ad. Voting ends on Tuesday and I have zero doubt Sling Baby will make the top 3. Earlier tonight that ad was ranked #3 but now “the public” has pushed it into first. The team that created Sling Baby are now literally pros when it comes to winning online votes. So like I said, they’ll make the top 3 for sure. To vote in the facebbook ad meter poll, head here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/superbowl-admeter

After the results of the facebook ad meter are released on wednesday, the 2011/2012 installment of Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest will finally be over. To mark the end of this year’s contest, we’re going to be running one more story about the Crash next week. In the article we’ll try and answer the big question of 2012: Do former finalists have an unfair advantage in the Crash the Super Bowl contest? For the story I was actually able to interview some of the judges at fritolay who run the contest and who help choose the winners. I was seriously amazed at how open they were about how they pick their finalists every year so if you’re a hardcore CTSB fanatic, you’re definitely going to enjoy that post. Check back on 2/13 for the full story.

Congratulations to the Man’s Best Friend team and to all the video contest filmmakers who crashed the Super Bowl this year!

The video contest winners of Super Bowl XLVI!

Posted by Dan L. on February 5th, 2012

Feb 6th UPDATE: USA Today just announced the top 5 ads of the Super Bowl and the doritos ad, Man’s Best Friend came in first! More info coming soon.

Well, Super Bowl XLVI is over and the winner is….Video Contest Nerds everywhere! On sunday night, four of the commercials that aired during the big game were originally shot for video contests or online spec assignments. Doritos aired (only) two Crash the Super Bowl ads, Chevy aired the commercial that won Mofilm’s “Route 66″ video contest and Dannon yogurt ran a commercial that was created for a Poptent assignment. I’ll post all the winning ads below. Let’s start with the Crash the Super Bowl winners:

CRASH THE SUPER BOWL WINNERS:

- Man’s Best Friend by Jon Friedman. AD METER RANK: #1

- Sling Baby by Kevin Willson. AD METER RANK: #4

Normally, USA Today would release the results of their annual “Super Bowl ad meter” poll a few hours after the game. But this year, the Crash the Super Bowl winners will have to wait until Wednesday to find out if they won any of Doritos’ bonus prize money. The reason for the delay is that this year, USA Today is running TWO ad meter polls. The first got its results from focus group polling. The people in those groups watched the Super Bowl commercials live and turned up little knobs to indicate when they saw something the liked. The second Ad Meter poll is open to the public and it’s still going on. From now until Tuesday, February 7 at 6:00 pm EST, Facebook users can visit http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/superbowl-admeter and vote for their favorite ad. If a Crash the Super Bowl commercial ranks in the top three on EITHER ad meter, Friotlay will pay out the traditional bonus prizes. First place is worth One Million Dollars, Second is worth $600,000 and Third place is worth $400,000. We will post the results of the “Facebook Ad Meter” as soon as they are announced on Wednesday morning.

And now, the other winning video contest entries of Super Bowl 46:

-Happy Grad for Chevy by Zach Borst:

Chevy aired a few commercials during the big game but I think Happy Grad was the best Chevy ad of the night. In my opinion it blew away the other Chevy commercials even though the other spots were big budget extravaganzas about skydiving cars and the Mayan apocalypse.

-The Tease for Oikos Yogurt by Remy Neymarc:

How the “The Tease” came to be is kind of an interesting story. Dannon ran a very special, private assignment on Poptent and asked members to create video “pitches” for a Oikos Greek Yogurt commercial that could feature John Stamos. 24 filmmakers shot their commercials using stand-ins for Stamos. The folks at Dannon picked their favorite and the chosen director got to re-shoot his idea. You can read the full story here.

Based on the quality of the ads we saw tonight, I think we’ll be seeing A LOT of “Crowdsourced” commercials during next year’s Superbowl. I watched the game in a crowded bar and all of the video contest entries went over pretty well. To my surprise, the Dannon yogurt ad made a lot of people laugh out loud. Chevy’s “Happy Grad” got a mild but positive reaction. “Sling baby” got some chuckles from one group of older women. One of them screamed with laughter but the men in the bar didn’t really react to that spot. The champ of the night though had to be “Man’s Best Friend.” People went bonkers for that one and most of my friends seemed to think it was the best commercial of the game. But like I said, all these ads did pretty well so all the winning filmmakers deserve a hearty “congratulations.” There’s still time for you to help make this year’s crop of Super Bowl video contest entries look good so to vote for them in USA Today’s Facebook ad meter poll.