When the Crash the Super Bowl finalists were announced on January 4th, I was pleasantly surprised to see that an ad entitled “Hot Wild Girls” had made the Top 5.  Though the commercial was clever, topical and funny, it seemed like kind of an “outside the box” pick for doritos.  It didn’t feature anyone getting brutalized and it wasn’t an over-produced, super-slick interpretation of “user generated content.”  Instead it actually feels like real,  authentic, UGC.  It looks like it was shot by a few buddies in their living room because it was!  And while it does feature dogs, at least they weren’t trying to trick a cruel human into dropping his Doritos on the ground. (I was positive we’d see another “dog gets his revenge” ad this year since there were so many copycats in the gallery)

So I was really glad to see this spot make the finals.  And I was even more pleased when I found out “Hot Wild Girls” was made by a friend of VCN!  The ad was written by a reader named Eric Delgado of San Antonio, TX.  This is kind of insane but for the second time in about 8 months, Eric has a serious shot at winning a million dollars in a video contest.  Over the summer, he and his friends made the finals in Gain’s “Smell Like a Million Bucks” competition.  Ultimately his team didn’t win that contest but it seems like that brush with victory inspired them to “go big” when it came time to enter the biggest video contest of them all; Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest.  And now, here’s out Q&A with Eric:

VCN:  Tell me about the “Hot Wild Girls” team.  Who are you guys?

ERIC:  Nate Watkin, Brad Scott and Eric Delgado. We are ex-MMA fighters from Denver, CO and San Antonio, TX with a combined record of 1-27 (Brad got the W because the other dude tapped out upon entering the cage claiming that Brad was “too pretty to hit.”)  Actually, Nate (my cousin) and Brad are the co-founders of their production company, Definite Productions, based in Denver.  They’ve been working together for about four years producing commercials and videos.  Last year, after Nate saw my Doritos entry for last year’s CTSB, we decided that we should work together on a future project since we all had a passion for comedic commercials.

VCN:  Have you guys entered many video contests in the past?

ERIC:  As a team, it’s our second contest.. We entered the Gain “Smell Like a Million Bucks” contest this past summer and we were actually a Top 25 finalist for the million dollar prize.  Sadly, we didn’t win.  That’s why we are pretty stoked about this Doritos opportunity.  We realize that we’ve overcome some pretty ridiculous odds and we are extremely grateful to be in this position.  Beardy’s Note:  Here’s his team’s Gain entry.  That’s Eric playing the role of the Repair Man:

 

 
VCN:  What made you want to enter the CTSB contest?

ERIC:  Honestly.. The opportunity to have our commercial/vision broadcasted to over 120 million people worldwide via the Super Bowl and the doors that’ll hopefully open as a result.. And of course the money.   The money part should actually immediately follow the “Honestly..” mentioned above.  What? Just sayin’.

VCN:  Where did the idea for your entry come from?

ERIC:  My cranium.. But knowing you Beardy, you probably want some details.  I knew we needed something that was “trendy”.  I also knew the power of animals in a commercial.  I wrote and wrote for a few hours until finally I came up with dialogue that fulfilled the “twist” which, coincidentally, added the final ingredient… Gorgeous girls.  I love those girls Beardy…I have no problem admitting that.

VCN:  How was the ad produced?  What kind of camera did you use?  Mind if I ask what your budget was?

ERIC:  Pre-production consisted of a week of casting talent, securing a location, and locating 3 Rottweiler’s (thank you Camp Bow Wow!) that could work together.  We had a $2,000.00 budget that was used to pay the talent and makeup artist.  A friend loaned us the RED One camera to shoot this ad.  Nate and Brad chose this camera for it’s amazing picture quality and control of the final image.  Since our intention was hopefully to have this ad broadcasted, we felt it was best fit to shoot at a higher resolution.  We shot on-location during a 5-hour period and had to work around the shifting daylight.  All footage was logged within an hour of completing the shoot, and then edited the next day with a final that night due to the deadline of the contest.

VCN:  So who gets to go to the Super Bowl?

ERIC:  Nate and Brad.  However, if the Cowboys we’re still in the playoffs, this would be a little different.  Stupid Cowboys.

VCN:  What are you doing to promote Hot Wild Girls?

ERIC:  Media (News/newspaper/radio interviews).. Social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, buzzfeed.com, etc.).. Website (hotwildgirls.tv).. Guerrilla marketing (fliers, posters, word of mouth, etc.)

VCN:  What has been the reaction of your family and friends to all this?

ERIC:  They have been AMAZINGLY supportive!  They are extremely proud and happy for us.. And we couldn’t be happier to have them along for the ride. We love ya’ll!!!  All that time spent in the past voting for a friend’s “Cutest Baby”, “Best Restaurant”, or “Prettiest Puppy” is finally paying off.

VCN:  Here on VCN we’ve talked a lot about finalists who are able to win the CTSB more than once.  Are you already planning your entry for 2013?

ERIC:  Absolutely. However, I hope they just announce the winner(s) before December 21, 2012. If I’m going down, I’d at least like to know that our commercial WOULD have aired during Super Bowl XLVII.

VCN:  Any final thoughts you’d care to share?

ERIC:  Yes.. And this is for your frequent visitors (like us.. fellow “Joe Handycams”) Beardy. There will always be people out there that criticize your work.  They’ll try and blast your creation on websites, forums, or maybe even the “comments” section under that YouTube video that you were proud to post even after a contest you didn’t win.  Who cares.. Let them criticize while you continue to create.  We are by no means experts in this art.. It simply makes us happy.

VCN:  Well said!

 

 
I’ve been voting for “Hot Wild Girls” every day and I think you should be doing the same.  It’s a cool, funny ad I’m hoping that if it airs during the Super Bowl and scores well on the ad meter, maybe next year Doritos will be inspired to make “outside of the box” picks when it comes time to choose their 2013 Crash the Super Bowl finalists.  To vote for Hot Wild Girls, just click here!