Doritos and Frito-Lay are well known for their “Crash the Super Bowl” ads and now they are trying to sweeten the deal even more. For this year’s contest there will be the usual chance at a cash prize but there will also be a new prize involved. For this year, the winner will win the chance to work with Hollywood director Michael Bay, who is most widely known for his Transformers movies. So in this year’s contest not only does the winner have a chance at anywhere from $400,000 to a $1 million but they now have a chance to make it big in Hollywood. Doritos chose Michael Bay for a number of reasons including because he is the director of the fifth highest grossing film of all time, he is number two on Forbes’ highest-paid celebrities list and he has earned $5.4 billion in box office sales. In addition to all this he has also filmed Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys and The Rock. However, to earn both the money and a chance to work with Michael Bay there is a catch. Working with Michael Bay is guaranteed but just as in years past the money is not nearly as guaranteed like one may think it is. In order to guarantee a money prize the finalists for the contest must have their commercial ranked in the top three of the “USA Today Ad Meter.” If the finalists are able to garner third place they earn $400,000, second place $600,000 and first place will earn them $1 million. Also, starting this year Doritos is trying to find a way to get those not interested in film involved in the contest. Individuals are allowed to go to Doritos Facebook page and offer the use of their homes, their pets or even themselves for other individual’s commercials. Doritos goal this year appears to be trying to appeal to all audiences who might be interested in being a part of a commercial one way or another.
In my opinion, there come both good and bad things from this new offer that Doritos is putting together. For starters, there is the good part. People are absolutely going to be more inclined to make a commercial now that there is the chance to meet and work with Michael Bay on the set of the newest Transformers movie. Many people looking for a break in Hollywood, who feel they have the talent and ability, will now submit their commercials. With more people entering higher quality commercials this is a win for both Doritos and for the viewers. Doritos wants to air the best commercial they can find and with a higher prize they will find those commercial. For the viewer they are looking to enjoy the best commercials the Super Bowl has to offer and with better prizes in this contest they too will enjoy higher quality commercials. However, there are some red flags and negative aspects raised by this contest. Just how worth it is this contest to Doritos? I understand they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t turn a profit from it and find it valuable. But just looking at the numbers it seems to be difficult to understand. A 30 second commercial in the Super Bowl cost around $3.5 million, if three finalist place in the top three of the “USA Today Ad Meter” that costs Doritos $2 million and then there is whatever compensation that Michael Bay is receiving to do this project. This means that Doritos is spending around $7 million to air two ads in the Super Bowl plus all of the prize and compensation money which adds up to be an awful lot of money. For me, that just seems to be too much to offer when they could just simply use their own marketing team to make quality commercials. Overall though I feel that the contest is going to be a great success this year, even more so than past years, and Doritos is going to like what they find in this year’s commercials.
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