Well, this is fucking rich. A few week ago, we posted the finalists in Doritos’ consumer generated, “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign. Just to ensure that consumers pay attention for the third year in a row, the brand has upped the ante. Doritos is offering$1 million to the creator if the winning ad tops the USA Today poll. In the previous two years, the Doritos spot has come in fourth.
That would all be well in good – the whole bribery thing, the whole desperate thing – if it wasn’t for the following quote from Ann Mukherjee, group VP, Frito-Lay marketing: “We have to put our money where our mouth is. If we don’t get them the biggest stage possible, it won’t be as authentic.”
Oh yeah. She dared to use the word “authentic.” And don’t you know – AdAge just went ahead and wrote that down in their little books. They didn’t ask what you’re probably thinking – What’s “authentic” about the spot hitting number one if you dangled a million dollars to make it happen? Hey ladeee – nobody loves Doritos more because you threw out some cash. No one is going to buy more Doritos. Believe. So why waste the cash? If you’re number one, does the American public get something? What’s the pay-off here from a CMO stand-point? Where’s the ROI on an extra million bucks for this campaign? And seriously, don’t use the word “authentic” and this campaign in the same breath ever, ever again.
The views have been increasing per each year Doritios engages in the competition. This year’s contest was on track to beat the 2007 contest’s vote total of 150,000. Greedy corporation! Heel! Heel!
More: A Super Bowl Ad For $395,000 From A Los Angeles Ad Agency