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The Doritos Crash the Super Bowl campaign is down to its three finalists, and even members of the Kansas City Chiefs can see there’s more to their story than just snack ads.
It’s the first Crash the Super Bowl in 10 years, and after narrowing a field of thousands of entries down to 25 earlier this month, PepsiCo and Frito-Lay have their last contenders: Abduction, Barbershop, and Charades.
The companies celebrated the milestone by bringing in the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Creed Humphrey, Chris Jones, and Xavier Worthy—as well as mascot KC Wolf—for a pun-filled spot that uses a focus group to reflect on the ads’ messages.
Now, through Jan. 28, fans can vote on the three ads at DoritosCrash.com and decide which will air during Super Bowl 59. The winning ad will be announced on Feb. 3, with its creators receiving $1 million.
“Crash the Super Bowl’s legacy has always been about Doritos being fans of its fans,” said Tina Mahal, svp of marketing at PepsiCo Foods North America. “These three final commercials remind us that when a brand puts the fate of its biggest advertising moment of the year in the fans’ hands, incredible moments can happen.”
At the Big Game on Feb. 9, Crash the Super Bowl will be about Doritos and the brand’s “For the Bold” tagline. But at this point in the campaign, it’s about the brand’s creator fanbase, and ADWEEK got exclusive access to the creators behind the three final ads to learn what led to their time in the Big Game spotlight:
Charades
As Mahal said, “Incredible moments can happen” during Crash the Super Bowl.” They just didn’t happen for Mark Blitch a decade ago when he entered his first two ads in the contest. A producer for a non-profit video production company for nearly two decades, Blitch has enjoyed making short films with his friends and tried finding a bigger stage for them.
“While neither of them advanced, it was a wonderful experience, so when a friend told me that Doritos was bringing back the contest this year, I thought it could be fun to do it again,” Blitch told ADWEEK.
This time, he made it a bit more personal. Living in Wylie, Texas, married for 19 years, and the father of two children, Blitch put one of his sons in his contest entry, which features a father who can identify all the charades clues but finds the answer elusive.
“Game nights with family and friends have always been a cherished tradition for me, so I figured charades was the perfect, relatable game that everyone enjoys playing,” Blitch said. “Everyone has that one friend that just can’t quite nail the answer.”
Barbershop
Zach Shenouda and Ryan Robinson met as high school sophomores in Orange County, California, and wanted to enter Crash the Super Bowl years ago. Both longtime filmmakers, they entered the University of Southern California’s film program with the intent of making feature films and commercials—drawing inspiration from Crash the Super Bowl.
“When we found out that they were bringing it back this year, being in our senior year of college, we knew instantly that we were going to submit something,” the two said in a statement to ADWEEK. “We got a late jump when starting the process, so we quickly came up with a concept and put together a dream team of our friends and fellow USC students.”
With friends willing to produce the spot, Shenouda and Robinson wrapped it up within two weeks. They view their story of a young man getting a haircut—only to be distracted and ultimately undone by the Dorito cheese on his barber’s fingers—as a chance to create opportunities within the industries they love.
“We’re both 22, and for millions of people to watch something we made would be unreal,” they told ADWEEK. “As young artists, we believe we are just as capable of creating content that entertains, sells, and moves people. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to get a step closer to chasing down our dreams.”
Abduction
Slightly farther down the same career path, director Dylan Bradshaw and content creator Nate Norell are no less hopeful. Bradshaw moved from Columbus, Ohio, to Los Angeles in 2020 and has been working on a feature film while creating spots for CeraVe, Credit Karma, and others. Born in the Dominican Republic, Norell earned a cinema and media arts degree from Biola University, where he’s turned his filmmaking skills into 6.2 million TikTok followers.
As their ad, which features an unsuspecting snacker trying to wrest his Doritos from an alien tractor beam, makes its way in front of more than 100 million viewers, Bradshaw and Norell know the opportunity presented by the world’s largest focus group.
“After countless sleepless nights and relentless effort, we’re incredibly proud of the story we created to entertain both America and our loved ones,” they told ADWEEK in a statement. “Being chosen as a top three finalist is an incredible honor that could open life-changing doors for our careers and make our younger selves proud.”
