A still from Doritos Manchild.
Aussie director Armand de Saint-Salvy has a one in ten chance of pocketing $1 million USD – as well as picking up a contract with Universal Pictures – after being listed as a finalist in Doritos’ annual Crash the Super Bowl contest.
His advertisement, titled Doritos Manchild, is the only Australian entry to make it to the top ten finalists this year, typically dominated by US entrants. Last year, Thomas Noakes also was listed as the solo Australian in the top ten, with his ad Finger Cleaner.
Now in its ninth consecutive year (but only the second year in which it was open to international entries), Crash the Super Bowl essentially asks consumers around the world to create a 30-second advertisement for Doritos.
A panel of judges then chooses a selection of ten finalists (this year, from nearly 4,900 submissions representing 29 countries), from which a grand prize winner is selected by way of fan votes.
While all ten finalists will be flown to attend the Super Bowl XLIX, only two of the ten television commercials will be selected to air during the game – a programming event which is viewed annually by more than 100 million people around the world.
The eight finalists whose commercials do not air during the broadcast will each win $25,000 USD.
The runner-up whose advertisement airs, but does not receive the most fan votes, will win $50,000 USD.
The ultimate winner will be awarded $1 million USD as well as, for the first time, the opportunity to work as a contractor for a full year onsite at Universal Pictures in Hollywood.
The announcement will be made on national television.
To be one of the final ten is an unexpected outcome for de Saint-Salvy, who originally entered the competition in an attempt to of break into the movie and commercial market.
“My background is actually launch promos for television, but I really want to move across into movies and commercials,” he tells IF. “It’s almost a separate industry. You need to make commercials that stand out if you don’t already know all the agencies and have relationships established.”
“Just being in the top ten is a break in itself. I have my fingers crossed. [Regardless of the prize], if I could direct some high-end TV commercials as a result of this, I’d be thrilled.”
If de Saint-Silvy was to take home the $1 million, he says he would pay back all the people who worked on his short films for free over the years. That, and buy him and his girlfriend a place to live.
“But the real prize would be the deal with Universal Pictures,” he says. “That’s my million dollars right there.”
To view and vote for Doritos Manchild, click here.
Voting is open until January 28.
The Super Bowl XLIX broadcast is set for Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, on NBC in the United States and local broadcast networks around the world.
The 10 Crash the Super Bowl finalist ads (in alphabetical order by finalist last name) are:
• “Doritos Angler” by James Bedford, UK
• “Baby’s First Word” by Travis Braun, USA
• “Selfish Sneezers” by Devon Ferguson, Canada
• “The Lemonade Stand” by David Horowitz, USA
• “Trouble in the Back Seat” by Jason Johnson, USA
• “Mis-Spelling Bee” by Brian Kleinschmidt, USA
• “What Could Go Wrong?” by Alex Pepper, USA
• “Doritos Manchild” by Armand de Saint-Salvy, Australia
• “When Pigs Fly” by Graham Talbot, Canada
• “Middle Seat” by Scott Zabielski, USA