Doritos today unveiled the 10 consumer created advertisements that have been selected as finalists for the annual Crash the Super Bowl contest. PepsiCo’s popular snack brand has presented some of the most talked-about Super Bowl commercials of all time and for the ninth consecutive year, the brand will turn over the global stage to two bold fans who have created homemade Doritos advertisements. For the second year in a row, Doritos has opened up the competition to fans around the world and this year’s finalists include a record four advertisements from outside of the United States.
The 10 finalists, hailing from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, were selected from nearly 4,900 submissions representing 29 countries around the world. Two of the 10 television commercials will be selected to air during Super Bowl XLIX, the championship game of the National Football League in the United States, which is viewed annually by more than 100 million people around the world. The grand prize winner will be selected by fan votes on doritos.com and the other advertisement that airs will be selected by the Doritos brand. Fans can view all 10 of the finalists and vote for their favourite on doritos.com through January 28 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
The grand prize winner will win a guaranteed $1 Million USD grand prize, as well as an opportunity unlike any other in the history of the contest: a chance to work as a contractor for a full year onsite at Universal Pictures inHollywood.
The 10 Crash the Super Bowl finalist ads (in alphabetical order by finalist last name) are:
- Doritos Angler by James Bedford, UK
- Baby’s First Word by Travis Braun, USA
- Selfish Sneezers by Devon Ferguson, Canada
- The Lemonade Stand by David Horowitz, USA
- Trouble in the Back Seat by Jason Johnson, USA
- Mis-Spelling Bee by Brian Kleinschmidt, USA
- What Could Go Wrong? by Alex Pepper, USA
- Doritos Manchild by Armand de Saint-Salvy, Australia
- When Pigs Fly by Graham Talbot, Canada
- Middle Seat by Scott Zabielski, USA
The 10 finalists were selected from 29 semifinalist advertisements by a qualified panel of judges, including executives from the Doritos brand, advertising professionals, and actress/producer Elizabeth Banks — who is making her directorial debut on Pitch Perfect 2 and has starred in critically acclaimed films such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Seabiscuit and Pitch Perfect, as well as global franchises like The Lego Movie, The Hunger Gamesand Spider-Man.
“It has been an incredible experience to lend a hand in selecting the finalists for this year’s Crash the Super Bowl program,” Banks said. “I’m excited to see which ad captures the hearts of fans and which filmmaker will win the life-changing opportunity to work at Universal.”
“Doritos fans continue to impress us with their creativity and enthusiasm for the brand,” said Ann Mukherjee, president, PepsiCo Global Snacks Group and PepsiCo Global Insights. “When we started this contest nine years ago it was one of the first and best examples of user generated content, and the brand was bold enough to present it on one of the world’s biggest stages. Carrying on that tradition, this year’s entries are some of the best ads we’ve seen yet and in only the second year since we opened up the contest to a global audience, almost half of the finalists come from outside of the United States. We have 10 outstanding advertisements and I look forward to seeing which ad fans will select to take home the grand prize.”
Each of the 10 Crash the Super Bowl finalists will win an invitation to attend Super Bowl XLIX and watch the game from a private suite, where they will tune in to learn which advertisements will air for the world to see. The eight finalists whose commercials do not air during the broadcast will each win $25,000 USD. The runner-up whose advertisement airs, but does not receive the most fan votes, will win $50,000 USD. The Super Bowl XLIX broadcast is set for Sunday, February 1, 2015, on NBC in the United States, on CTV in Canada and local broadcast networks around the world.
If you were born in the ’80s, ’90s, or literally ANY decade after those, you know about Super Mario. A cultural phenomenon was brought to life on the big screen this last weekend. One that has not only stood the test of time but reinvented itself time and time again. This wasn’t even the first time it’s been made into a movie but, well, let’s be honest.. some of us choose not to acknowledge the LIVE action adaptation of the beloved game from 30 years ago.
It was pretty bad… But this was animation. ILLUMINATION animation at that. The Universal company that brought us Gru and his Minions, showed us the Secret Life of Pets, and gave us a reason to SING! Still, I had my reservations and even some concerns, especially when the casting was announced.
Eyebrows were raised. As big of stars as they were on paper, could they really deliver on voicing characters from a staple of our childhood? They did.
Chris Pratt and Charlie Day may not be Italian, and Jack Black may not be a King or Turtle creature from the Mushroom Kingdom, but they make the characters their own all while paying homage to the lore of a video game.
From the jump, the story reintroduces us to the brothers that just want to save Brooklyn one clogged sink at a time. We feel an instant connection and relate to these “underdogs of the plumbing world”. The movie is riddled with easter eggs, each of which tugs on the heartstrings of every generation of Mario fandom. And the soundtrack was beautifully put together to not only make us feel like we’re taking a walkthrough of the game but like an experience all its own with some familiar favorites thrown in.
Every word in the movie is pure eye candy for both those that are casual fans, and those analyzing every frame to see what they’ll catch next. Bowser’s ship, the Mushroom Kingdom, Kong’s arena, and the Rainbow Road.. They’re all meant to give us just enough of a “new” look at these amazing worlds, but stay true to how we remember them.
The movie itself moves along at the perfect pace. Although, if you don’t really know ANYTHING about the Super Mario Bros, you may have gotten a little lost and felt left behind in the green tunnel. But that’s ok! It’s an adventure of the imagination and a classic story of a boy that meets a girl and tries to save the world from a monster that wants to destroy it.
What’s funny is that you could easily say this is a story about two characters who couldn’t be more opposite if they tried, battling to win the heart of a princess. Who would’ve thought that the King of the Koopas was just trying to impress his crush?
And that song? Ohhh THAT song! It’s my new ringtone and deserves the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Back to the movie.
Universal and Illumination clearly understood the assignment. Is it missing some things or could things have been done differently or even better? Absolutely! We’re the worst critics of the things we hold nearest and dearest to our hearts. But if you’re up for going on a 90-minute adventure through amazing worlds, with awesome music, and characters that’ll make you smile and laugh, then this is the perfect movie to spring you into that warm summer feeling.
Plus there’s the whole part with karts and shells, and banana peels and oh my goodness how amazing was that?? It’s enough to make you want to stand up and cheer, then go home and destroy your friends and family on your favorite track haha.
The bottom line, it pays homage in all the right ways to the little guy with the mustache, while giving us something new and exciting. Take the kids and go see Super Mario Bros. You’ll be glad you did!
Justice League x RWBY: Superheroes & Hunters Opening Act Saturday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. on North 200A. Talent confirmed so far to participate in the post-screening panel is Natalie Alyn Lind (Big Sky, The Goldbergs, Gotham) as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and longtime RWBY cast member Lindsay Jones (Camp Camp) as Ruby, Kara Eberle ( RWBY: Ice Queendom) as Weiss, Arryn Zech (Detective Now Dead) as Blake and Barbara Dunkelman (Blood Fest) as Yang – along with Jeannie Tirado (Soul, Saints Row) as Green Lantern and Tru Valentino (The Rookie, The Cuphead Show!) as a cyborg. Also attending the panel will be producer/director Kerry Shawcross (series RWBY) and writer Meghan Fitzmartin (Supernatural, Justice Society: World War II).
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023 with the big screen debut from DC Animated Films: highlights this year include the world premieres of the highly anticipated Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham and Justice League x RWBY: Superheroes & Hunters Part One the weekend of March 24-26 in Anaheim, California. Both screenings will be followed by panel discussions with actors and creators. Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham premieres at The Arena on Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m. Tati Gabrielle (Kaleidoscope, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Uncharted) as Kai Li Cain, Christopher Gorham (The Lincoln Lawyer, Insatiable) as Oliver Queen, David Dastmalchian (Dune, Suicide Squad, Ant-Man) as Grendon, producer/co-director Sam Liu (The Death and the Return of Superman), co-director Christopher Berkeley (Young Justice) and screenwriter Jase Ricci (Teen Titans Go! and DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem Across the Multiverse).
Both films will have encore screenings in the Arena on Sunday, March 26. Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One will screen at 12:15pm, followed by Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham at 2:00pm
No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023
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No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
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No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023
