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Brothers Finally Win With Doritos Commercial

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By WALT BELCHER wbelcher

@tampatrib.com

Published: February 3, 2009

It took one vending machine and five panes of glass to get just the right smash for the much-talked-about amateur Doritos commercial seen during Super Bowl XLIII.

"We shot it at the local YMCA in

Batesville, Ind. Population 6,000," said 32-year-old Dave Herbert, who along with his brother Joe, 32, won $1 million in a do-it-yourself commercial contest sponsored by Doritos maker Frito-Lay.

"We're just a couple of nobodies who have been trying to win this thing for five years," Joe said Monday morning before a "Today" show appearance.

"Today" celebs Al Roker and Meredith Vieira did their Super Bowl wrap-up from the fourth-floor patio of The News Center, which houses The Tampa Tribune, WFLA, Channel 8, and TBO.com, in downtown Tampa.

The brothers were on a high after placing first in the USA Today annual "Ad Meter" poll of 288 citizens recruited to watch and grade Super Bowl commercials.

In the spot, produced for less than $2,000, an office worker tosses a crystal ball at a vending machine to make his prediction of "free Doritos" come true. His nerdy buddy then wishes for a promotion. But when he tosses the ball over his shoulder it smashes into the boss's crotch.

"Our biggest expense was $700 to feed the cast and crew," Joe said.

"We carefully researched the kind of ads that score well on the USA (Today) Ad Meter," added Dave, noting that two years ago they almost got into the Doritos finals.

Slapstick prevailed among most of the commercials this year. Many were entertaining, even if they lacked the "wow!" factor.

Coming in second on USA Today's poll was a Budweiser Clydesdale's romance with a circus horse, then a Budweiser Clydesdale fetching a log and Bridgestone's Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head take a drive.

A DIFFERENT POLL: The 41 business majors at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management ranked the Monster.com commercial as the best.

In this gag, opera music plays while a camera pans the posh office of a CEO. A moose head hangs on the wall. On the other side of the wall, we see the stuffed moose's body extended over the desk of an office drone.

The message - "if you find yourself stuck under a moose's behind, it's time to look for a new job" - was funny, simple, short and memorable, says marketing professor Derek D. Rucker, who along with professor Tim Calkins conducts this annual Super Bowl ad rating.

"It made a clear connection to the job-finding site Monster.com," he said in a telephone interview. "We're not just gauging the entertainment value. We look for commercials that make a clear connection with the brand. We look at how effective is the sales pitch. Some commercials look clever but they don't sell the product."

The moose commercial placed 22nd in the USA Ad Meter poll.

The Kellogg School also gave high "sales" marks to CareerBuilder.com (punching the koala bear), the Doritos crystal ball, E-Trade's talking baby and Denny's gangsters get happy faces on their pancakes.

NERD HERD: For something completely different, check out "The IT Crowd" at 11 tonight on the Independent Film Channel.

This British import follows the misadventures of a technical support team at fictional Reynholm Industries, a billion-dollar corporation.

Geeks and computer repairmen Roy and Moss are stuck in the company's basement, where they mostly try to avoid work by outwitting their technically-challenged boss, Jen.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"Leverage," at 10 on TNT

TNT has renewed this action drama about an undercover team of vigilantes who get revenge on the wicked. Tonight, they're after a stock trader who bilked a charity.

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