Doritos Reveals Six Consumer-Created Commercials Vying for $5 Million Bonus Prize and Air Time During Super Bowl XLIV

PLANO, Texas, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Doritos brand today revealed six finalists selected from more than 4,000 entries in the fourth annual Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge, where the stakes this year are bigger and bolder than ever. Contestants are not only competing to have their self-made Doritos commercials aired during the Super Bowl XLIV broadcast, they also are shooting to make history by beating the ad pros and garnering the top three spots in USA TODAY's annual Ad Meter.

Last year, two unemployed brothers from Batesville, Indiana received $1 million from the Doritos brand for trumping the Madison Avenue-made commercials and ranking No. 1 in the USA TODAY Ad Meter with their homemade Doritos commercial that they created for less than $2,000. It was a bold move that changed the brothers' lives forever and kick-started their now-thriving careers in film and television. This year, three consumer-created :30 Doritos spots chosen by fans from the six finalists will air during the Super Bowl XLIV broadcast. The brand will give the winners a shared $5 million cash bonus prize if the homemade ads claim the top three spots.

"Every year, we continue to be impressed with the talent our fans bring to the table," said Rudy Wilson, vice president, marketing, Frito-Lay. "This year, however, Crash the Super Bowl achieved a new level of success with more than 4,000 entries coming from an incredibly wide range of ages, backgrounds and geographies, including entries with actual celebrities in them. This kind of mainstream involvement and excitement is something we never predicted, and we couldn't be more excited about it."

It is now up to Doritos fans nationwide to select the three homemade ads they want to see aired during the Super Bowl XLIV broadcast February 7, 2010 on CBS, and potentially become the first-ever consumer-created commercials to rank top-three in the USA TODAY Ad Meter. Consumers in the U.S. can vote for their favorite finalist once a day at www.crashthesuperbowl.com between January 5, 2010 and January 31, 2010. The winning ads will not be revealed to the world - or the six finalists - until they air on national television during the Super Bowl broadcast.

The Doritos challenge kicked off in September and was met with thousands of unique entries that celebrated the spirit and love for the Doritos brand. Each of the six finalists will win $25,000 and a trip to South Florida to attend Super Bowl XLIV where they will tune in to learn for the first time which three ads won when they air for a worldwide audience.

The six finalist ads (in alphabetical order) are:

• "Casket" by Erwin McManus of Whittier, CA
• "House Rules" by Joelle De Jesus of Hollywood, CA
• "Kids These Days" by Nick Dimondi of Cary, NC
• "The Smackout" by Brendan Hayward of Santa Monica, CA
• "Snack Attack Samurai" by Ben Krueger of Minneapolis, MN
• "Underdog" by Joshua Svoboda of Raleigh, NC

Potential grand prizing for the contest will be based on each of the three winning ad's ranking on the USA TODAY Ad Meter:

• $1 million will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number one spot on the Ad Meter
• $600,000 will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number two spot on the Ad Meter
• $400,000 will be awarded for a Doritos ad that scores the number three spot on the Ad Meter

If the consumer-created Doritos ads sweep all top three rankings of the USA TODAY Ad Meter, an additional $1 million bonus will be awarded to each winner for a total prize giveaway of $5 million.

In addition to sending the six finalists to this year's Big Game, Doritos is giving online voters a chance to get in on the action by giving away a pair of Super Bowl tickets every day of the voting period. While at the contest Web site voting, visitors also can enjoy watching all 4,063 of the creative and entertaining submissions that came in from every corner of the country. Details about the vote-and-win game, including official rules, are also available at www.crashthesuperbowl.com. Fans also can get updates by following @DoritosUSA on Twitter or visiting the official Doritos Facebook page.

The USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter tracks the second-by-second responses of a panel of viewers to ads during the national broadcast of the Super Bowl and ranks them favorite to least favorite. Created in 1989, USA TODAY's Ad Meter has been regarded as the most influential Super Bowl ad rating in the advertising industry.

Crash the Super Bowl is one of many ways the Doritos brand continues to turn control over to consumers. The brand's commitment to fan-empowerment began with the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" program, which started in 2007 and has turned the brand's Super Bowl advertising over to its fans every year. In addition, Doritos has put consumers in control through a variety of other exciting opportunities, including its "Unlock Xbox" challenge where fans compete to have their Xbox LIVE® Arcade game concept developed and made available for download worldwide; and "Doritos Late Night," which provided Doritos fans ground-breaking virtual musical performances by blink-182 and Big Boi through the power of augmented reality technology where fans could enjoy and control the performances in the palm of their hand.

BROADCAST / PRINT / TV MEDIA: Broadcast quality video, photo stills and press information is available to preview, download and share at www.magicbulletmedia.com/MNR/DoritosSuperBowl

Frito-Lay North America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade and Tropicana. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fritolay.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

    Contact:
    Chris Kuechenmeister
    Frito-Lay
    972-334-2044 office
    214-422-8901 cell
    [email protected]

SOURCE Frito-Lay North America