Every year, the Super Bowl is renowned for the commercials it plays, but this year’s Super Bowl was extra special for the consumer created commercials Doritos ran. Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl Challenge” began in September and drew 1,070 entries, which Doritos trimmed to five before consumers voted for the winner. As it turns out, the vote was so close that Doritos decided to run two spots, including “Check Out Girl” by Kristin Dehnert, which ran during the second quarter.
“When I heard about the Super Bowl competition, it blew my mind that the opportunity was out there, so I put on my marketing hat and my goofy creative hat to make sure our spot was specific to the brand,” Dehnert said. Dehnert, who lives in Pacific Palisades, CA, and works as a location manager, did research to learn about the Doritos flavors with funny names and used them in the spot, with the check out girl crying “Fiery Habanero” and “Blazing Buffalo Ranch” to the deadpan customer who responds with his own verve as the spot progresses.
Stephanie Lesh-Farrell, an actress found at a casting call, and George Reddick, a friend of Dehnert’s who acted with her before, starred in the spot.
It was a dialogue-based spot with no special effects. The soundtrack included ambient background noise and a beeping sound for scanning bags of Doritos at the register.
A Panasonic HVX200 camera was used for the shoot and an Avid Xpress editing system.
The spot was shot at a Super A Foods store in Los Angeles. “I know the guy who runs the store and I pitched the idea, and he said you can shoot at the store if you do it after hours,” Dehnert said. “So we shot it on a Saturday night from 11 to 3 am and didn’t stop until we were laughing ourselves silly.”
Jason McDonnell, Doritos director of marketing, said the Super Bowl advertising gave consumers “the chance to celebrate their passion, develop creative content and put their own touch on it.” Dehnert’s touch won her incredible recognition as the creator of one of the two best consumer-made spots in a national contest that makes advertising history.
All five finalist spots will play on national TV through March, Doritos announced on Monday.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More