Watch out big advertising firms, turns out the consumer-created Doritos Super Bowl commercials have topped the list of fan favorites of the big game advertising bonanza. In various surveys and online polls, Super Bowl watchers seem to have overwhelmingly picked out the low-budget Doritos commercials as some of the best ads to air during the game.
Two Doritos Super Bowl commercials consistently rank in the top five across the board when fans are asked which ads from the game they liked the best. The Doritos “House Rules” commercial is an often named top favorite, with the brand’s “Underdog” commercial placing high as well. Both commercials were created by consumers competing for a ‘Crash the Super Bowl’ contest by Frito-Lay.
“House Rules” creator Joelle De Jesus won $25,000 for his homemade commercial, while “Underdog” creator Joshua Svoboda won a whopping $600,000 for his ad, which placed second in the annual USA Today Ad Meter survey. The Snickers Betty White Super Bowl commercial took the top spot in that ranking.
Besides user-created videos like the Doritos commercials, internally created advertisements were also heavy hitters during this year’s Super Bowl. Google’s self-created ‘love story in Paris’ commercial generated huge buzz and was rated highly by fans and advertising reviewers.
So what does this mean for the big advertising and marketing firms out there hoping to land mega-bucks to produce commercials for big brands? Maybe they need to tighten their belts and get in touch with their inner consumers. Successful advertising is no longer about pushing a brand down people’s throats with flashy production values and celebrity voice-overs. The Super Bowl commercials that dug in and connected with viewers on a personal level were the ones that most won over fans.
We’re betting next year we’ll be seeing more user-generated Super Bowl commercial contests and more in-house ads produced by companies wanting to garner that personal touch with their consumers. When anyone with a smart idea and a camera can make a winning Super Bowl commercial, it’s more than obvious the massive advertising agencies out there are going to have to change things up big time to stay competitive.
>> Previously: Top Super Bowl Commercials of 2010 – The Best & Worst