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.
Director Hans Emanuel Joins Caviar For Commercials and Music Videos
Production company Caviar has signed director Hans Emanuel for U.S. commercial and music video representation. The film and advertising director fuses his keen--and Berlinale Film Festival Award-winning--eye for cinematic storytelling with a commercial background across multiple genres including beauty, automotive, dance, and visual effects-heavy projects, to produce creative for clients like Kia, Nivea, Nissan, L’Oreal, BMW and more.
Caviar executive producer Salim El Arja noted, “Hans has a unique ability to blend stunning visuals with heart and humor, rooted in his confidence as a craftsman. This allows him to focus on drawing exceptional performances from actors--including celebrities--and crafting films that are not only visually striking but also deeply engaging and often hilariously comedic. His sensibilities align perfectly with Caviar’s vision, and we’re excited to collaborate with him on work that pushes creative boundaries.”
Emanuel added, “Caviar is a renowned name, certainly since I began my career. They have a solid reputation for quality work, and I’ve always respected them as a company. Life is about where destiny makes you flow with the people you need; thanks to a series of projects, I was introduced to Florence Jacob with Caviar Paris first, and the rest is history. I feel they can support my career growth with their comedic expertise and filmmaking prowess.”
Prior to joining Caviar, Emanuel had been repped by production house Stadium. He was born and raised in Santa Monica, Calif., to a Mexican-German mother, benefiting from a culturally diversified upbringing that carried through his education interests. Knowing he wanted to be a filmmaker from the start, he began his career in the luxury and beauty field,... Read More