Ad of the Day: Doritos

The brand gets all Evel Knievel with its explosive spot for new Jacked chips

Is there any other product as invested in its own awesomeness as Doritos?

I sure hope not, because that would probably result in some kind of world war. The brand's latest spot (from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, not an amateur Super Bowl crasher) is quite good, with the same attitude that fueled Chuck Norris's surprisingly watchable political ads—which is to say, over-the-top toughness leavened with enough smarts to self-identify as ridiculous.

Seriously, though, I remember when Doritos were capital-X eXtreme and its promotional materials were bold enough to suggest you might not be able to handle the mounds of tangy orange cheezoid powder substance with which they had been electroplated. In strict medical terms, that might not have been a totally unreasonable assertion.

Now, in honor of new, extra-large Doritos Jacked chip (they're 40 percent larger and 40 percent thicker than regular Doritos), we have … let's call it a touch of Evel, with a monster truck piloted by a guy in a flame-stenciled helmet leaping two and a half more school buses than Mr. Knievel to demonstrate the extremity of this tortilla chip's wattage. This is funny, but it's the look of terror on the faces of the customers in the china shop as the truck bears down on its plate-glass windows that really makes this ad work for me. The rest is gravy. Also fireworks. The direction is solid, as is the casting, and of course the copywriting is great, with the narrator providing the hyperbole as the director breaks the china plates. (The tagline is "Tastes like awesome feels.")

The only question is: Where can Doritos go from here, after getting eXtreme and then Jacked and 3-D and even tasting like quest? I'm guessing we'll see Doritos Badass, Doritos Too Cool Even for You, and Doritos Go to Hell, Old Man.

CREDITS

Client – Frito-Lay

Ann Mukherjee – Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Ram Krishnan – Vice President of Marketing, Global Brands

Jeff Klein – Brand Team Senior Director

Jared Drinkwater – Brand Team Director

Carol Pock – Production Supervisor

Agency – Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

ECD/Associate Partner – Rick Condos

Associate Creative Director – Erik Fahrenkopf

Associate Creative Director – Anthony DeCarolis

Writer – Jon Kallus

Art Director – Nicolas Randall

Director of Production/ Associate Partner – Cindy Fluitt

Executive Producer – Hilary Coate

Producer – Sara Krider

Account Director – Michael Crain

Assistant Account Manager – Sharon Byer

Assistant Account Manager – Kyle Walsh

Operations Director – Neil Maciejewski

Business Affairs Manager – Ken Rongey/Karen Keoleian

Production Company – Biscuit Filmworks

Director – Tim Godsall

Managing Director – Shawn Lacy

Executive Producer – Holly Vega

Line Producer – Kathy Rhodes

Director of Photography: Jeff Cutter

Production Designer: Brock Houghton

Editorial Company – Arcade

Editor – Stewart Reeves

Executive Producer – Deanne Mehling

Producer – Kirsten Thon– Webb

Assistant Editor – Luke McIntosh

Telecine – Company 3

Colorist – Sean Coleman

Executive Producer – Rhubie Jonanov

Producer – Matt Moran

Music License – Extreme Production Music

Post Production/VFX Company – Method Studios

VP of Production –   Gabby Gourrier

EP – Stephanie Gilgar

VFX Producer –   Darcie Muangman/ Pip Malone

VFX Coordinator – Anastasia von Rahl

VFX Supervisor – Sean Faden

Compositor – Toby Brockhurst, Noah Caddis, Jay Hawkins

CG – Todd Herman, Alejandro De La Garza, David Lo, Luis Rodriguez

Matte Painting – Amy Paskow and Zach Christian

Paint – Jay Shindell

Roto – Mark Duckworth, Frida Sahono– Joswik

Sound Design Company – Henryboy

Sound Designer – Bill Chesley

Producer – Kate Gibson

Recording Studio – Lime Studios

Mixer – Loren Silber