Doritos Announces Winner Of $1 Million Grand Prize In Global Advertising Contest

PepsiCo’s Doritos brand today awarded $1 million (U.S.) to one talented winner from Scottsdale, Ariz., for creating the best homemade Doritos ad in the brand’s global “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. Ryan Andersen, creator of “Time Machine,” received the most fan votes on www.doritos.com to edge out Amber Gill from Ladera Ranch, Calif., whose ad “Cowboy Kid” received the second-highest total fan votes and was chosen as the runner-up by the Doritos brand. Both saw their ads air in front of a global audience during Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVIII broadcast, one of the most-watched television events in the world. Both creators won the opportunity to work with Marvel Studios on the set of “Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the highly anticipated sequel to the 2012 blockbuster movie “Marvel’s The Avengers,” which became the third-highest-grossing movie of all time. Runner up Gill was awarded $50,000 (U.S). To see the winning ads, visit www.doritos.com.

“‘Time Machine’ represents what the ‘Crash the Super Bowl’ contest is in its truest form — original, bold and creative,” said Ram Krishnan, vice president of marketing, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division. “Out of more than 5,400 ads from around the world, this consumer-created ad came out on top. And now Ryan Andersen is on top of the world.”

This is the latest installment of the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, which has been held for the past seven years in the U.S. Since it began in 2007, the annual contest has invited U.S. consumers to create and submit 30-second homemade ads celebrating their love of Doritos tortilla chips. This year, Doritos opened up the contest to fans from around the world where Doritos tortilla chips are sold, attracting more than 5,400 submissions from 30 countries.

Grand prize winner Andersen, a freelance wedding photographer from Scottsdale, Ariz., teamed up with his 6-year-old-son to create “Time Machine.” The $300 (US) commercial is about the cleverest con one could think of to get a bag of Doritos tortilla chips — a time machine that conveniently only runs on Doritos tortilla chips.

The two winning ads that aired were among five finalist ads selected by a qualified panel of judges, including executives from the Doritos brand, advertising professionals and the legendary Stan Lee of Pow! Entertainment — Chairman Emeritus of Marvel Studios and co-creator of such Super Heroes as Iron Man, Spider-Man and others. “Time Machine” was selected to air by worldwide consumers who voted it the best finalist ad; “Cowboy Kid” was selected to air by the Doritos brand.

Each of the five “Crash the Super Bowl” finalists won an invitation to East Rutherford, N.J., to attend Super Bowl XLVIII and watched the game from a private luxury suite, where they tuned in to learn which finalist ads aired. The three finalists whose commercials did not air during the broadcast each won $25,000 (U.S.).