PLANO, Texas, and NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking the fifth anniversary of the groundbreaking contest that changed the Super Bowl advertising landscape, the Doritos brand today launched the biggest, most unexpected Crash the Super Bowl yet.  With an ad contract and a $5 million payout on the line for sweeping the top three rankings of the USA TODAY Ad Meter, the contest will offer an unprecedented six :30 Super Bowl ad spots for consumer-created commercials.  Plus, this year's contest brings the most surprising twist to date – Doritos inviting sibling brand Pepsi MAX to the program for even more chances to sweep the top spots on the Ad Meter. Each brand will air three :30 consumer-created ads during the Super Bowl XLV broadcast, Feb. 6, on FOX, leaving it up to fans to decide whether they submit Doritos ads, Pepsi MAX ads or, – for those that are especially ambitious – ads for each.

Since 2007, Doritos has aired consumer-created ads on the Super Bowl telecast that have consistently ranked within the top-five spots of the USA TODAY Ad Meter. This marks the first time PepsiCo's Doritos and Pepsi MAX brands have partnered for a Super Bowl activation.

"Following last year's Super Bowl, our fans wanted another shot at sweeping the top of the USA TODAY Ad Meter and challenged us to look for new ways they could demonstrate their abilities at the highest level," said Rudy Wilson, vice president, Frito-Lay. "We answered by bringing Crash the Super Bowl back and stocking our arsenal in a way nobody expected – by partnering with Pepsi MAX to offer six spots to consumers to showcase their talents and make their dreams a reality."  

"We are excited to return to the Super Bowl this year to drive mass awareness that Pepsi MAX has Zero Calories and maximum taste through a consumer engagement program like Crash the Super Bowl.  We believe that great ideas can come from anywhere and we're excited to give Pepsi MAX fans the chance to showcase their creative talents on one of the world's biggest stages," said Lauren Hobart, CMO Sparkling Beverages, PepsiCo Beverages America.   "With our colleagues at Doritos, we're confident fans of both brands will put it all on the line this year and that the experience will help catapult their careers in many new and exciting ways."

To help celebrate the launch of the contest, Doritos and Pepsi MAX are hosting a first-of-its-kind event today aimed at giving consumers the best possible preparation for this year's competition.  Held in Los Angeles and available nationwide by live webcast, the event will be headlined by creative directors from two of the world's leading ad agencies – Jeff Goodby from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Rob Schwartz from TBWA\Chiat\Day – for an exclusive behind-the-scenes discussion about creating breakthrough Super Bowl ads.  In addition, film and television star Betty White, whose Super Bowl spot became a phenomenon coming out of Super Bowl XLIV, has joined the Crash the Super Bowl team to help inspire contestants to shoot for the Super Bowl spotlight and pursue their dreams.  She will be appearing at the launch event and serving as one of the lead recruiters for this year's contest.  Consumers can view a live webcast of the event at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST today at http://www.ustream.tv/crashthesuperbowl or a recording of the event will be available at www.crashthesuperbowl.com.

This year, participants can upload :30 commercials that share their love for Doritos tortilla chips or Pepsi MAX to www.crashthesuperbowl.com from September 27, 2010,  to November 15, 2010, to be considered for one of the coveted spots that can change the lives of Doritos and Pepsi MAX fans. To help entrants amp up their creative masterpieces, the site also houses a toolbox where Doritos and Pepsi MAX logos, product shots, music and animations are available for download and use. In addition, footage from today's launch event also will be available on the contest website.  

Ten finalist ads will be announced in January 2011 – five Doritos ads and five Pepsi MAX ads. Then it will be up to fans to vote for their favorite ads online and determine two winning Doritos spots and two winning Pepsi MAX spots.  In addition, Doritos and Pepsi MAX executives will each select a winning spot for each brand, for a total of six consumer-created spots to air during the Super Bowl XLV broadcast. Each of the 10 finalists will win $25,000 and a trip to Dallas to attend Super Bowl XLV in a private luxury suite at the game, where they will tune in to learn for the first time which ads won when they air for a worldwide audience.  Beginning today, details about the advertising challenge are available at www.crashthesuperbowl.com.

Potential grand prizing for the contest will be based on each winning ad's ranking on the USA TODAY Ad Meter:

• $1 million will be awarded for an ad that scores the No. 1 spot on the Ad Meter
• $600,000 will be awarded for an ad that scores the No. 2 two spot on the Ad Meter
• $400,000 will be awarded for an ad that scores the No. 3 spot on the Ad Meter

If consumer-created Doritos and Pepsi MAX ads sweep the top three rankings of the USA TODAY Ad Meter, an additional $1 million bonus will be awarded to each of the three winners for a total prize giveaway of $5 million. In addition, the consumer who creates the highest-ranking Doritos or Pepsi MAX ad will win a guaranteed contract to create an additional ad for the two brands in 2011.

The USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter tracks the second-by-second responses of a panel of viewers to ads during the national broadcast of the Super Bowl and ranks them favorite to least favorite.  Created in 1989, USA TODAY's Ad Meter has been regarded as the most influential Super Bowl ad rating in the advertising industry.

Doritos tortilla chips is one of the billion-dollar brands that make up Frito-Lay North America, the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY.  Pepsi MAX is one of PepsiCo's billion-dollar global brands and is part of Pepsi Americas Beverages.  To learn more about Pepsi MAX, visit the Pepsi Max tab on Pepsi's Facebook page at: www.pepsimax.com.  To learn more about Doritos, visit its website at www.doritos.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DoritosUSA.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

SOURCE Frito-Lay