About 2 weeks ago I announced that I planned on doing a list of our Top Picks for the best Pepsi Max entries to the Crash the Super Bowl contest. I asked you guys to send me links to your favorite videos (or videos you made that you’re especially proud of) and a whole lot of you took me up on the offer. And even though I didn’t ask for them, I’ve been getting lots and lots of links to Doritos entries. So I’ve decided I should stop ignoring the Doritos folks and start a new discussion thread. So if you have a Doritos entry you’d like to promote, leave the link as a comment to this post. Since there were more than 3,000 doritos commercials submitted to the Crash this year I won’t be able to do a list of my top picks. But if I see an entry I really like I might feature it.
UPDATE: I’m happy to look at any videos anyone wants to send me and I’ll even give you a quick review if you’d like one, but my inbox is getting pretty messy. So please don’t e-mail me your links. Post them in a comment so that everyone can see them.
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Beardy — thanks for the thoughts, appreciate you taking the time to comment, and looking forward to watching your pepsi picks. check out the man challenge if you haven’t yet, i haven’t watched many pepsi’s but thought it was particularly strong, though potentially too old spicey,
Joe — wow, that’s some high praise. obviously we hope you’re right, but with a contest this big luck is always a major factor — there always seem to be 50 or more entries that would serve Doritos well, we’re just hoping to be in that group and have a bit of luck with the judges
Great feedback, glad you enjoyed the spots. As for the massive cast, It was crazy, we just put an ad on craigslist and ended up with 70, yes I said it 70 extras willing to work for a hotdog and a bag of doritos. So much great footage couldn’t fit it all into 30 sec. But it was an amazing day. Quick question, How did you think we branded “Doritos” with the whole “The Cool Ranch!” idea. Branding was the key focus this year. When the commercial ends I was hoping for the comment. “I liked the commercial about, “The Cool Ranch!” Not sure if we succeeded but would love to here your thoughts on it. We lived and died with our “the Cool Ranch” idea.
Thanks again for taking the time to check out my spots and giving me some great feedback.
TRAV
please check this out
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If you get a chance check out Mission Doritos:
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I made this video with my wife and four kids, and I think it turned out pretty good for an amatuer.
Thanks.
What did you think about SpacebooK? It didn’t make your top 25. I see now that I have to have someone throwing a Pepsi Max or perhaps a celebrity—or for a sure thing, a celebrity throwing a Pepsi Max.
I would appreciate it if you gave me your feedback on our Two 30 Second Doritos Commercials. I think we have something really special and unique that’s different from the rest. Let me know what you think. Thanks and God bless.
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Review-time has ended for this season. But I’ll do 2 final critiques for Patrick and Dallas. But keep in mind guys that I am burnt out on CTSB ads and so I my enthusiasm is pretty low.
Patrick, Spacebook was cute but not especially funny. Most of it consisted of aliens dancing around. It really needed a more fleshed out story. It did make me crack a smile once or twice though.
Dallas, your two entries just creeped me out. And I think that was what you were going for, right? My advice is that sponsors don’t want their commercials to say that their product gives people gas, no matter what the punchline is. Also, di-interlace your video next time and you won’t get all those lines in it.
The Muppets have a really big year cut out for them in 2011… I’m hoping this homage/parody will have just the right mix of nostalgia and humor. Enjoy!
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I thought “Doritos Monster” was hilarious except the last come-back shot was absolutely unnecessary and dumb.
We made this- it’s getting a great response-
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I
It’s supposed to be a slight nod to Kermit the Frog at the end.
Ian,
By chance, your video was one of the very last ones approved by doritos last week so it was one of the very first ones that people saw when they clicked on the doritos gallery. (It’s been pushed deeper into the gallery due to the recent addition of a crop of videos that uploaded incorrectly) So I wouldn’t get too excited about the number of views and votes your entries has. All the videos at the beginning of the gallery have high view/comment counts. It’s a good entry though. Good concept and cute girls.
Thanks Beardy-
I meant more from colleagues than hits/comments- we did it concept to delivery in 6 days on a nothing budget. But thanks for the info-
I also did this one for Crunch- the contest period is over but the site still lets people vote- go figure.
http://www.thecrunchbunny.com/#/featured-videos/view/27344101
Happy Thanksgiving!
Check it out:
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Thank you Beardy for your response. I appreciate it. Okay, well, we wanted the lines with the wheelchair spinning, but i see what you’re saying. lol, well you never know, you wouldn’t think a product would want to be known for kicking someone in the nuts either lol. We shall see. Again, appreciate it, and God Bless man.
Hi, I’d love your insight into my spots:
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Thanks,
Ian
Ian (Eyre),
A few weeks ago I started a new feature on this site called “Know Your Tropes.” In it, I pick a video contest idea/story/character that’s been done to death by video contest filmmakers. I’ve only done one installment so far (topic: zombies) but I’m working on another post. The topic? Lemonade Stands. Of the 5,000 entries doritos got this year I’d bet that at least 100 of them featured lemonade stands. I watch a lot of contest videos and I swear, every single big contest always gets several videos about lemonade stands. So unfortunately, your ad isn’t going to fair well on the creativity scale.
Putting the concept aside, your spot was kind of confusing. It featured lots of shrill cries from young children which would probably be enjoyed by no one if the spot aired during the super bowl. The audio was clear on the kids but the adults lines were covered up by wind noise. Finally, the doritos didn’t appear until the very end of the commercial.
Thanks Beardy,
I read your post on Tropes. Very interesting and now I have a term for those. I too noticed an annoying number of zombie and lemonade stand commercials on CTSB last year and this — so what do I do? This year I made a lemonade stand video and last year I made this: . I guess I’m a slow learner (amateur). Like many before me, I think that my take on an over-used idea will be more creative and original than the rest, even if it’s a clever parody of old folks like Sean of the Dead was a parody on couch potatoes. Or that my kids will be more emotive than other kids. Still there’s value in making the videos for family and friends, even if they set me back more than a Grand. And there’s value in the process of creation. Thanks for getting me thinking outside the box and thanks for your informative website.
Ian
I am posting a few of our spots. Here they are, I hope you enjoy them!
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Thanks for looking
Hi, I would love your feedback on our Doritos Crash the Super Bowl entry titled “You Are What You Eat”. Here is the link below and look forward to it.
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Best,
Andrew
Andrew,
Your spot was funny but I had a problem with your main character’s logic. WHY would he want to turn his wife into a dorito? He seemed to have all the doritos he wanted. Was a shopping cart full of doritos not enough for him? Was it really worth his wife to go away forever for him to have just one more chip? Suspension of disbelief can only go so far. Characters still have to behave like real human beings or there has to be an explanation why they are not acting like real human beings. From my point of view, your main character basically wanted his wife dead (the dorito on the pillow didn’t seem to be alive) and when he did think she was dead he was overwhelmed with joy.
If I had read this script before the ad was shot I would have recommended either changing the reason why the guy kept feeding his wife doritos or changed the ending so that she turned into a happy, living dorito or dorito-human hybrid.
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This one is really quirky and cute.
A friend of mine sent me a link to a spot he acted in. It just happens to be really well done and funny.
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We entered two – one for Doritos and one for Pepsi.
It’s been interesting. Lots of support and great feedback but just recently some christians started an email campaign to ban Pepsi if it airs.
i would love to hear everyone’s feedback here! Thanks!
Dave Williams
We have four submissions. Please check them out and give us a review.
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Madrid,
Asking me to review 4 videos (even if 2 of them are the same) is kind of asking a lot. I’ll give you some general points about all of them.
The production values are very low. I could barely hear the dialogue. You filmed in a room with huge, blank white walls. Most homes have plain white walls but you’ll never see white wallks in commercials. Colored walls add depth to your shots. White walls just looking boring and make these spots look homemade (and not in a good way) The core ideas of the first to entries are kind of funny but not executed well. All three ads are very slow and it feels like you tried to pad out 20 seconds of material into 30 seconds.
Finally, the first thing you need to do before picking up a camera is read the rules of the contest you plan to enter. The doritos rules say no original music or singing can be used. So your rap entry will have to be disqualified. But even if rapping over the provided music was allowed, you filmed your performer sitting in a chair in front of a blank wall. No matter how good the music is, the visuals need to be interesting too.
Mightmatt,
The video you linked to features almost exactly same idea as this one for pepsi:
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Instead of a giant dorito being the dad it’s a giant pepsi max bottle. That delivery room mix up idea is one I’ve seen a lot over the years.
Yep, they are almost exactly the same.
Thanks for the review Beardy. I’m sorry that I didn’t specify that I was looking for a general review of all the commercials, but I appreciate that you did take the time to give me a general review. I understand that the quality lacks in sound and visual; that’s something we are working on and trying to find a solution for. It never occurred to me that the white walls would make the films look blah. That is a very good point and I thank you for pointing that out. Contrary to your assumption that we tried to “pad out” the video to fill in dead space, we actually had to cut material out of both commercials to fit it into the 30 second slot. the baby shower had more games and the predicament had more devil scenes.
The rap video was a disaster and I really should not have posted that up. it was done last minute and it looks like it was rushed and had very little thought put into it. Once again thank you for your review. We will apply your comments to our upcoming projects.
Madrid,
No problem. Check out this winner from last year’s dorito contest:
I saw that ad play on tv a few times and the yellow walls really looked good. I know they used a very expensive camera to shoot that ad. I wouldn’t be surprised if they painted the living room just for the shoot.
Hi Beardy, I know it’s been awhile, but I wanted to say one more thing that I forgot to mention. In our Commercials, we weren’t saying that Doritos gives you gas. If that would have been the case we would have added loud, obnoxious sounds effects to imply giving one gas.
We just meant, Doritos makes your day better, makes you happy and gives you stamina–gives you great gas mileage!! : ) God bless
I know im late to the party, but I’d love to know what you think about this spot. Thanks.
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Please let me know what you think about my commercials i have 2 entry, on for doritos and one for pepsi.
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What would you do for your Doritos?
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The doritos monster teaches us about the letter “D”.
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Let me know what you think via email!
Hi beardy! This is a great post and it’s really kind of you to rate our videos. Do you mind checking mine out:
Beardo,
Your spot is very strong. I really like the idea. I think the execution falls just a little short of the mark. The problem might be that you crammed a lot into 30 seconds. This is an idea that work great in 60 seconds. Obviously for this contest you had to keep it to 30. But if you don’t make the finals I would advise you to reshoot this idea for some different contest where 60 second videos are allowed. What this ad needs is more build up to the reveal of the creature. This would also work better in a contest where you were allowed to make orginal music. I think it was a genius idea to have the creature sing a “catchy jingle” but the joke would be more effective if the jingle was actually catchy. Still, nice work.
Alain,
Both of your spots are very well done. The football one looks especially good. Both look very professional. The football story confuses me a bit though. I was waiting for some kind of explanation as to WHY the guys are turning into doritos. As it is, it seems like the only reason is because it’s a funny sight gag.
The Pepsi ad is stronger than the football ad. It actually made my Top 60 list. But it didn’t make the top 30 because it doesn’t because it felt like it could have been a commercial for any kind of soda. The guys didn’t like pepsi max because it was good, they liked it because the 2 liter made for a good football. In a way, it almost seems like the other guys were willing to toss the bottle around because they had no intention of drinking it…and that’s bad. Overall though the ad is funny and well made.
Brandon, sorry, can’t do any private reviews via e-mail. Public reviews only. (Though I’m seriously starting to think I should be charging to do private critiques)
Everett,
Your entries look awesome. Nice camera work and great colors. I think the “ick” factor on these ads though are a little too high. No one wants to see one dude suck orange cheese off another dude’s fingers. It’s just not appetizing. On the plus side, your characters do exhibit a deep love for the product. I would have left out the finger sucking and gone right for the “kiss.” Then you would have had time to add some big gag at the end. Like maybe the sleeping guy wakes up and busts a lamp over the other guy’s head.
Thanks so much for the input! I actually submitted less “icky” versions for that reason! There are four total and each are slight variations of one another. We tried the lamp over the head idea too but unfortunately it did not turn out :/ Your opinion means a lot!
Hello Beardy,
I know your growing tired of the Doritos ads, but as you said in your latest update
this contest has really positively impacted your blog. Your insight has inspired and
given hope to the “little guys” such as myself trying to make a go at a challenging contest.
With all that, I submit to you my entry and respect your opinions.
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Hey Mark, thanks for the comment. Way to butter me up before I watch your video!
Ok, so right I’ll say that I don’t really think you have a winning entry on your hands. BUT…I’m impressed with what you were able to accomplish. I can tell that you really cared about making a good, interesting video.
So there are a lot of good things in this video. The casting was great, the concept is good and the location was perfect. What kind of camera did you use? The colors are great. I think shooting late in the day really added a lot to the look of the ad. And I don’t know where you got a donkey but my hats off to you.
Now for some cons. This idea feels like it would work better if it was done BIGGER. By that I mean tons of people and reporters and lights and trucks and stuff. That way, it would really increase the drama of the moment. Obviously it would cost a ton of money to pull off something like that. That means this might not be the best idea for a video contest where there is no guarantee you’ll make any money. Next issue; the audio. You got a lot of wind noise and wind noise sounds very unprofessional. Mediocre video can be forgiven but videos with audio problems just aren’t really air-able.
General issues; The Chilean miners might have been in the news in October but remember, by the Super Bowl everyone will have forgotten about them. It’s best to avoid topical humor in video contests. And I get that the guy had 3 wives (of girlfriends) but that could have been clearer. I also think the ad was lacking one big laugh. It was amusing but it needed a “laugh out loud” moment.
But like I said, this is an impressive effort. I think if you can get an audio guy to help you next year and you can come up with an idea with a really strong punchline you can made a video that will have a shot at going all the way. And I’d recommend using that donkey again. Donkeys are hilarious.
Hey Beardy,
Thanks for taking the time and giving me your honest opinions!
The truth hurts but its the only way I’m gonna get better.
As far as the wind noise, its amazing I got any audio the wind was
so bad! By the way, the camera used was Canon 5D.
Thanks again, love the blog
Mark
Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it immensely and I’m happy you have created this forum to offer your insight.
Thank you.
Well, I know im biased, but, well, I really think ours has simply got to be a finalist!
“The Muse”
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Nice site.
Check out our entries:
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