It’s been just over a month since the deadline for the Crash the Super Bowl contest passed so if you’re one of the 6,000 or so people who entered this year, right about now you’re probably wondering when the 5 Pepsi Max and 5 Doritos finalists will be told they made the top 10. The finalists will officially be revealed on Monday, January 3rd (sounds like this might happen right at midnight) and voting for the ads that will air during the super bowl will start immediately. But since finalists will need to submit a ton of paperwork before their ads can be cleared for use, the producers of those ads will need time to get all that stuff together. And this year, finalists will be allowed to make some small tweaks to their entries so that will take some time too.
According the the moderator on the Crash the Super Bowl website, this year’s finalists have NOT yet been notified (as of December 14th) but Fritolay won’t say exactly when the notifications will take place. But I’ve talked to a number of past CTSB finalists and it sounds like every year Doritos contacts the finalists just before Christmas. So if you haven’t heard anything yet you can continue to hold out hope for about another week. But if you don’t get an e-mail or phone call by the end of business on the 23rd you might want to start making other plans for the Super Bowl.
DECEMBER 20th UPDATE: A few people on the crash the super bowl site noticed that someone left this comment on a doritos video called “Picking Teams:”
“Heard the word that you guys were contacted in a blog! Thats awesome! COngrats guys.. This spot def deserved it!” (link)
But the CTSB forum moderator was asked about this and said that the finalists have NOT YET been notified.
DECEMBER 20th UPDATE #2: Some knucklehead using the screen name “TheTop10″ is posting a bunch of comments on different, popular entries on the Crash the Super Bowl site saying that “according to Video Contest News” the finalists have already been notified. For the record, we have NOT claimed that the finalists have been notified. In fact, I believe the forum moderator when he said that the finalists have not been contacted yet. I do suspect that “Picking Teams” is a finalist video though and that word did slip out about that one. But I think they were contacted early for some special reason and the rest of the finalists will probably be contacted in the next few days.
DECEMBER 21st UPDATE: A finalist from last year’s Crash the Super Bowl contest posted a comment today and he explained how and when he got the good news last year. I’ll let him remain anonymous but I can confirm that he definitely was a finalist last year. So check out the comments to get the inside story!
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Hey Beardy,
I came across your blog because of your postings on the CTSB site. My entry was the first I’ve ever attempted for a commercial competition. I’m a self-taught, old school animator coming from a fine arts background. Nonetheless, I had a great time working on my spot and an even better time watching so many great, and I mean GREAT, spots! I made mine in just under three weeks with a ream of cheap bond paper and some tempera paints. I couldn’t finish the coloring in time to make the deadline, but I think it still conveys my intention. I recognize it’s a bit dark for a Doritos ad, but please take a look and if you’ve the time, critique? Thanks much!
Sistercoen,
I liked your entry but I think you’re right, it is a little dark. I also think that if doritos/pepsi were to choose an animated ad it would really, really have to be over-the-top hilarious and it would have to look amazing. So if your entry wasn’t actually 100% complete I’d have to say that would probably hurt your chances. You’ve definitely got talent though and I think if you do a similar animation for a smaller video contest you’d have a pretty good shot at winning.
Thanks much, Beardy!
I’m definitely taking your advice and entering some some smaller contests. In fact, I’ve just registered at Poptent!
I appreciate your feedback very much. Thank you!
Thanks, Beardy!
Great suggestions, and I really appreciate the time you took to watch and comment on the commercial. I actually didn’t write or direct it (my boyfriend did) but I will definitely pass on your suggestions.
Take care!! And I look forward to reading more of your posts. Keep up the great work!
-E
beardy,
why do you think this one didn’t make it in? my son and his friends made it……
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they also did this one:
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would love to know your opinion.
thanks, and great website!!
Hey Beardy,
Great blog you’ve got here. You’ve helped keep a lot of people informed on the contest. At this point, I haven’t been contacted on my video and can only assume we weren’t picked, but oh well, it was a great experience and is perfect for a reel and resume. I just want to see what you think of my ad “Cheddar and Cheese”. Thanks man!
Ethan
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DoritosFan,
Sorry your comments didn’t post. The website flagged them as spam because you used a link to the CTSB site as your website.
First off, both of those ads are VERY good. If they were submitted to a smaller video contest they’d probably win easily. But I can understand why they didn’t make the doritos or pepsi finals. I think both videos are just to “busy.” If you watch the ads that have made the Crash the Super Bowl finals in the past you’ll notice that they usually have very little dialogue or plot. Some finalists have had ZERO dialogue.
You have to imagine the context in which the winning ads will be seen. People will be seeing them play on tv during the superbowl, probably while they’re at a loud party. If an ad has too much plot or too much talking, people will lose interest.
The two entries you posted have another problem; they aren’t about the products. In the Doritos ad the chips don’t appear until the very end. And in the Pepsi Max ad, that little robot guy is the star. I’m guessing very few people would be able to recall what product that spot was for if they saw it on tv. They’d just remember the funny robot guy. But again, like I said, both of those videos are great. They just don’t fit the CTSB style, I think.
Ethan,
Your ad was funny but every past crash the super bowl finalist video has had one thing in common; they feature characters who love to eat doritos. Your ad is kind of a cool idea but it’s not about eating doritos and no one would want to eat doritos because of it. Also, I think jokes about people planting bombs and killing cops (when you think about it, that IS what happens in this ad) might be a little to controversial for a chip commercial.
I gotta ask, are you a member of Poptent? You didn’t get your idea for “Cheddar and Cheese” from a submission to the Bounty assignment entitled “Hunter and Bounty” did you?
Thank for the feedback Beardy,
When developing the script for the commercial, we were worried about everything you just brought up, so we really tried to heighten the “cheese” factor in order to offset those controversial elements, but it seems that those elements probably did hinder us in the long run.
No I’m not a member of Poptent, but am considering joining after this contest. The idea was originally developed by me and my college roomate as a basic spoof on the buddy cop genre cliches (“Starsky and Hutch”), which we have found, is a common idea. The basis of ours though is personifying an inanimate bag of Doritos as a 70′s cop within the realm of the buddy cop cliche. I had developed a short film spoofing “Starsky and Hutch” in high school, which then sparked this similar idea for the contest.
Once again thanks for the feedback!
Ethan
Beardy,
I stumbled onto your site from the CTSB Forum, I see you are pretty good at telling folks about their ads and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind taking a crack at critiquing my three spots. I look forward to hearing from you!
Note to Grandpa:
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Helmet 2 Helmet:
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Cheated:
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Vince
Vince,
Note to Grandpa: This is kind of a cute idea but a “sweet” story isn’t what pepsi is looking for. The goal is to score high on the super bowl ad meter and the ads that score high are feature over-the-top humor (like betty white getting tackled or a house made out of bud light.) I thought your sweet set-up was going to result in some kind of hilarious twist at the end. I think the rules actually say that entries are supposed to be as funny as possible.
Helmet 2 Helmet: Helmet to Helmet collisions are not a problem most people know about. Parents with kids who play football might get this but a lot of people would just be confused by the concept. The ad also moves a little slow and didn’t really have a big pay off at the end.
Cheated: I think this one has the best idea of the three. But you got a key plot point across by showing text on a screen. If people are only half paying attention to the ad, (like if they were at a big super bowl part) they would miss the “jamie” set-up.
Overall I would say that you had some good ideas but they needed to be developed a little more thoroughly. I also think the acting and the production quality was a little low for TV. If you plan on entering again next year I recommend you find or hire some crew people and semi-pro actors to help you out. And instead of doing 3 ads you might want to try and put all of your money and energy into just one idea.
Thank you Beardy for your opinions regarding “The Amazing Doritos Machine” and “Meet Max.” You make perfect sense.
After my son and his friends find out they are not in the finals tomorrow (yes Beardy, they are in denial and believe they are still in the running to be in the finals), I will forward them your reasoning, so they can NAIL IT NEXT YEAR!
Thanks again! So great that you answer all these inquiries.
I appreciate the critique. This was the first contest I’ve ever entered and your tutelage will only spur me on. This year I am determined to make it in. Those three spots came together (pre-production, production, and post production) in the coarse of about one month right up until the deadline for this contest. Imagine what I could have done with an entire year. I had only heard about from a friend towards the end of October. This year I won’t cut it so close. I think that is why the production quality was lacking. I was rushing myself.
Anyway, Thanks again.
Vince