Doritos Narrows its Search for its 'Cheesy' Love Song

By Mike Beirne

There was no shortage of cheesy love songs, but Doritos has narrowed a field of unsigned musicians down to 10 finalists.

For its “Crash the Super Bowl” promotion, the PepsiCo-owned brand asked for unknown artists to create music videos. Winnowed down from a field of hundreds, 10 singers and groups have been selected.

Consumers were invited, this week, to cast their votes as to which should run during the Super Bowl. The 10 semi-finalists’ bios and music are listed on a microsite, Crash the Super Bowl.com.

Online balloting is open from now until Dec. 31 to vote for one of the top 10. Voting on the three remaining finalists selected by the initial vote then resumes Jan. 7 – 31, when a winner will be announced.

“These 60 seconds are about celebrating the fans of Doritos and celebrating the passions of those fans,” said Rudy Wilson, director of marketing for Doritos. “You won’t be seeing a Doritos bag shot in middle of the spot.”

TV spots will also air during some NFL playoff games and “Crash the Super Bowl” will be flagged on packaging and POP starting next month. The Marketing Arm, Dallas, handles overall concept development and in-store design.

An additional push is being provided by cinema ads from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.

Doritos launched a similar campaign last year that allowed consumers to create their own spots. One lesson learned about social networking is to allow people more opportunity than the two weeks alloted for casting online ballots last January.

“I think they learned from their mistakes last year,” said Jim Nail, chief marketing and strategy officer for Cymfony, Watertown, Mass., a unit of TNS Media. “When you’re a snack-food brand, you want people thinking about you particularly as they’re planning what to serve for their Super Bowl parties. I think that little adjustment should help them.”

In addition to a 60-second music montage airing during the game, the winners receive a record deal with Interscope Geffen A&M Records.
via brandweek.com