Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl": How Fans Made the Most Expensive Ads on TV

In 2009, two brothers from Indiana made a Super Bowl ad. In the spot, a man throws a snow globe at a vending machine, hoping it will give him free Doritos. It works. The ad was called “Free Doritos.” It cost a few thousand dollars to make.

It finished first in the USA Today Ad Meter, the most famous ranking of Super Bowl ads, and the brothers won a $1 million bonus from Doritos.

This was the Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, which ran for ten years.

The Context

Super Bowl ads are expensive to make and to air. Brands spend millions on production and millions more on media. For many, the goal is to top the Ad Meter, which asks viewers to rate ads during the game.

In the mid-2000s, user-generated content was becoming a trend. YouTube launched in 2005, and ordinary people were creating and sharing videos in large numbers.

Doritos, owned by PepsiCo, wanted to connect with young consumers who were active online. The brand decided to invite fans to create its Super Bowl ad.

The Campaign

Doritos announced “Crash the Super Bowl” in 2006. Fans were invited to create their own Doritos ads and submit them online. Finalists were chosen by Doritos, and the public voted for their favourites. The winning ad aired during the Super Bowl.

The first fan-made ads aired during Super Bowl XLI in February 2007. The contest grew in the following years, with bigger prizes. Doritos offered a $1 million bonus if a fan-made ad reached number one in the USA Today Ad Meter. In 2009 “Free Doritos” did exactly that.

The contest ran each year until 2016. Many fan-made ads finished near the top of the Ad Meter, and several took first place.

The contest had a clear structure that kept people engaged for months. Doritos announced the competition in the autumn, giving filmmakers time to plan and shoot. Entries were posted online, where they could be watched and shared. A panel narrowed thousands of entries to a shortlist of finalists, and the public voted on which ads should air. The finalists were flown to the Super Bowl, which gave local newspapers and TV stations in their home towns a story to cover.

The prizes grew over time. Beyond cash and the chance to have their work seen by more than 100 million people, winners were offered bonuses tied to the USA Today Ad Meter. The $1 million bonus for a first-place finish turned the Ad Meter into a scoreboard for the whole contest, and it gave the media a clear story each year: could amateurs beat the professionals again?

The entries themselves became content. Many finalists’ ads that never aired on TV were still watched widely online. Some entrants went on to careers in film and advertising, and the contest became known in the industry as a way to break in.

Why It Worked

It turned customers into creators. Fans invested time and creativity into making Doritos ads. They became personally connected to the brand.

The contest created months of attention. The campaign was not just one ad. It included the launch, submissions, public voting, finalists and the big game. Doritos stayed in the conversation for months.

It brought fresh ideas. Amateur filmmakers were not bound by industry conventions. Their ads were often surprising and funny in ways professional agencies might not have tried.

It was cheap. Fan-made ads cost a fraction of professional productions. Even with large prizes, the contest was cost-effective.

It fitted the brand. Doritos was bold, playful and aimed at young people. A contest where fans made irreverent ads matched that personality.

The Results

“Crash the Super Bowl” ran for ten years and generated thousands of entries each year. Several fan-made ads finished first in the USA Today Ad Meter, beating ads made by the world’s biggest agencies.

The contest became one of the most famous examples of user-generated content in advertising. Doritos ended it after the 2016 Super Bowl, saying it wanted to try new ideas.

Not every year was a triumph. Some finalists relied on slapstick or crude jokes that critics found cheap, and the final year’s ads included a spot about an ultrasound that divided viewers. As more brands copied the user-generated format, it also became less novel. But for a decade the contest gave Doritos a Super Bowl presence that felt different from every other advertiser in the game.

It also changed how the industry thought about creativity. The success of fan-made ads against campaigns made by major agencies suggested that a good idea could come from anywhere, and that production budgets mattered less than insight and humour. Many brands later launched their own contests, although few matched the scale or longevity of Crash the Super Bowl.

The Lesson for Today’s Marketers

Your customers can be your creative team. Giving fans a real opportunity to create for your brand can produce great ideas and strong loyalty.

A contest can extend a campaign far beyond a single moment. By building a process with stages, Doritos turned one Super Bowl slot into a months-long campaign.

And know when to stop. Doritos ended the contest while it was still successful, before it became stale.