Doritos brings Crash the Super Bowl contest back; Offers Hollywood gig to winner

You know how Doritos is in the Super Bowl, like, every year with a commercial or two, and how they let consumers – not advertising agencies (gasp!) – make the commercials for them? Yeah, well, they’re doing it again.

The brand’s “Crash the Super Bowl” contest is back with perhaps the best prize they’ve ever offered. Two fan-created spots will be chosen – one by the Doritos team and one via online poll – and the creator of the spot that ranks higher in the USA Today Ad Meter ratings will be invited to work with Hollywood hotshot Michael Bay on the set of Transformers 4. And, like last year, if one of the Doritos spots takes the number one spot on the USA Today poll, the creator will win a cool one million dollars.

As an ad agency, we’d like to hate this campaign, but we can’t. Truth is, it’s brilliant. Doritos gets a truckload of publicity and buzz out of it each year, and they also get a damn fine crop of consumer-generated ads to choose from. That’s a win-win. Or, as Michael Bay might direct it, a win-win-KA-BOOOOOOOM!

MARKETING LESSON: Sure, asking consumers to create your ad for you might save a few bucks, but when you factor in the prize and big-budget marketing campaign to promote the contest, it’s kind of a wash.