Megachurch Enters Doritos Super Bowl Ad Contest; In Top Six
Correction appended
A Doritos chip commercial made by a Southern California megachurch is among the final top six contestants battling it out for a commercial spot during the Super Bowl.
Mosaic Church, with main campuses in the Los Angeles area, beat out more than 4,000 entries in the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest to make the top six. The top three entries will be aired during the 2010 Super Bowl – Super Bowl XLIV – which will be played on Feb. 7.
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"It's a miracle and a divine comedy that we've made it this far," says Erwin McManus, senior pastor of Mosaic and the producer of "Casket," according to USA Today. "I think it's God's sense of humor."
Mosaic's 30-second commercial is called "Casket" and is about a man whose last wish is to be buried in "a giant casket with Doritos [chips]." The man, however, is only pretending to be dead and is shown enjoying Doritos chips in his coffin and watching a football game while his friends and family mourn during his funeral service.
Two of his buddies apparently know the scheme and called it a "genius" plan that provides free Doritos and gets him at least a week off of work.
The commercial ends when the man overly excited after a touchdown, overturns his casket and is seen alive and well eating Doritos in front of mourners. One of his friends tries to cover for him by leaping into the aisle and proclaiming, "It's a miracle!"
The idea for the comical ad was inspired by one of the "Casket" team member's funeral experience. The team member's grandfather had requested to be buried with a beer and cigarettes.
"Thx to your help Casket is at 35,000 views," tweeted McManus, on Monday. "Help us make it 40,000 by tomorrow! (and u could win tix to the Bowl)."
This is the fourth annual Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. The makers of each of the top six entries have each won $25,000. It is now up to online voters to decide which three commercials will be aired during the Super Bowl. Votes will be taken until Jan. 31. The winners will not find out until Super Bowl Sunday when they actually see their commercial aired.
Additional prize money could be awarded based on how each of the three ads that air rank on the USA Today Ad Meter following the Super Bowl. If a consumer-created Doritos ad ranks No. 1 overall on the USA Today Ad Meter, which measures how popular ads that air during the Super Bowl are with viewers, its creator will receive $1 million. A second place rank will yield $600,000 prize money and a third place rank $400,000.
If the three Doritos ads sweep the top three rankings of the USA Today Ad Meter, each ad producer will receive a $1 million bonus on top of their prize money.
In 2009, the consumer-generated Doritos commercial claimed the top ranking in the USA Today Ad Meter.
Doritos is also giving away two Super Bowl tickets every day to voters.
"My guy Erwin McManus (Mosaic Church) created a Doritos Superbowl Ad!" tweeted fellow megachurch pastor Rick Warren last week in support of "Casket." "Church could win $! VOTE 4 him!"
On the Web: http://voteforcasket.com
Correction: Wednesday, January 13, 2010:
An article on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, about a megachurch that entered the Doritos Super Bowl ad contest incorrectly stated that the creators of the top three ads will receive $1 million each. According to Chris Kuechenmeister, a representative of the Frito Lay company, the prize money is based on how the three ads rank on the USA Today Ad Meter following the game. The most a single ad contestant could win is $2 million.
