For Fall 2020 Intro to Advertising

1. Lee Ann Wesley – Super Bowl Advertising
My chosen advertiser: Doritos
Advertiser’s Super Bowl History: Doritos first ran an advertisement in the Super Bowl in 1994,
during Super Bowl XXVIII. Since then, they have run ads in sixteen Super Bowls. Throughout the
years, Doritos comes up with new and unique ideas that do not follow a theme. Some have
featured celebrities, others are purely comedic, and in 2007 and 2008, they held what they
called “Crash the Super Bowl”, which let consumers send in their own advertisements, as well
as vote on aspiring singers to be featured in ads (AdAge).
Brief Summary of Super Bowl Ad: The Doritos theme for the 2020 Super Bowl was exploring
the town of Cool Ranch, so they could advertise Cool Ranch Doritos. They ran one 60 second
advertisement in the second quarter, and it featured Lil Nas X, Sam Elliott, and Billy Ray Cyrus
(Super Bowl 2020 Ad Tracker).
Description of Ad: The Doritos ad begins with showing the western town of Cool Ranch, along
with Lil Nas X riding in on a black horse. He is dressed in cowboy get-up and proceeds to get off
his horse and have a dance off with Sam Elliott, also dressed in traditional ranch clothing. A bag
of Cool Ranch Doritos is shown as the prize. Their dances begin to escalate in intensity until Lil
Nas X gets back on his horse and he does a dance move while riding it. Sam Elliott looks over at
his horse tied to a building and his horse shakes his head to say he won’t dance with him. Elliott
tips his hat to let Lil Nas X know that he forfeits, and Nas X rides away into the distance eating
his bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, after asking “Who’s next?” The screen also shows the hashtag
#CoolRanchDance when he rides away. Sam Elliott voices over this segment saying, “Doritos
Cool Ranch just got cooler.” At the very end, Billy Ray Cyrus is shown sitting down playing the
guitar and he says, “I ain’t dancing” (Sam Elliott and Lil Nas X Dance Battle). I believe the
intended target audience were Millennials as well as Gen Z viewers, because they recognize Lil
Nas X as well as Sam Elliott and Billy Ray Cyrus. The target audience probably also included
people who have enjoyed Cool Ranch Doritos before, and Doritos wants them to try the new
and improved version.
Offer or Message: Personally, I think that the Doritos ad was a comedic way to advertise for the
new and improved Cool Ranch flavor of their product. This ad showed consumers the new Cool
Ranch flavor, which Doritos lovers can go and try, or can be enjoyed by someone who has never
had Doritos. They were also trying to show that the product is the prize of an epic dance off.
They also used Lil Nas X, Sam Elliott, and Billy Ray Cyrus as endorsers and to show that they
enjoy Doritos, too. The target audience will probably think Doritos are even cooler since these
familiar faces were featured in the ad. Since Lil Nas X became very popular recently with his
song Old Town Road, he was the perfect fit for the theme of the ad and is very well known with
young adults. Sam Elliott has also played many cowboy characters in movies and TV shows, and

2. Cyrus is a country singer. In some ways, I think Doritos was “selling” them and their images
along with the new version of their product.
Teasers and Social Media: Doritos ran two teasers before their ad during the Super Bowl. They
ran on YouTube. The first teaser, titled “Monologue,” was released on January 17th. In this
teaser, Sam Elliott walks into a saloon in an old western town, and the bartender immediately
serves him a drink. Elliott proceeds to talk to the bartender solely using lyrics from Lil Nas X’s
Old Town Road. He also side-eyes another patron at the saloon while saying “You ain’t been up
off that porch now.” He points to the bartender when he finishes, saying “You can’t tell me
nothin’.” At the very end, we hear the bass of Old Town Road start playing, and the glasses in
the bar start rattling while Elliott leaves the bar. A bag of Cool Ranch Doritos is shown with the
date February 2nd shown on the screen. The second teaser, that aired on January 21st,
continued from the end of the first teaser. We hear the bass line of Old Town Road playing in
the distance, and different citizens of Cool Ranch are shown listening in confusion. Then, we see
Lil Nas X riding in on his black horse with speakers attached that are playing the tune. It ends
showing a closeup of his face, and flashes to show a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos with the same
date as the first teaser (Doritos Super Bowl Teaser).
Agency: Doritos worked with Goodby Silverstein & Partners for their 2020 Super Bowl teasers
and ads. This ad agency has offices in San Francisco and New York City, but I could not find
which office produced this year’s Doritos ad. They have many very popular clients, like Cheetos,
BMW, the Golden State Warriors, Sonic, Pepsi, Sun Chips, and Tostitos. GS&P worked with
Doritos on many other ads as well. They worked with them on their ads with Chance the
Rapper, Lionel Richie, and Post Malone. They also worked on Doritos 2016, 2018, and 2019
Super Bowl ads, which were very successful. Pepsi and Bubly were also clients of GS&P in the
2019 Super Bowl. In the 2020 Super Bowl, they produced ads for Pepsi, Sodastream, and
Cheetos, along with Doritos. These are all PepsiCo brands, and PepsiCo has a long history of
amazing Super Bowl ads, and this year was no different (GS&P) (Zanger).

3. Works Cited
AdAge. “Ad Age’s Super Bowl Ad Archive.” https://adage.com/superbowl-
results?search_phrase=doritos.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners. “We Are GS&P.” https://goodbysilverstein.com/about/we-are-
gsandp-3.
Lundstrom, Kathryn. “Doritos Super Bowl Teaser Stars Sam Elliott, Who Has His Horses in the
Back.” AdWeek, 17 Jan. 2020, https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/doritos-
super-bowl-teaser-stars-sam-elliott-who-has-his-horses-in-the-back/.
Lundstrom, Kathryn. “Sam Elliott and Lil Nas X Dance Battle for Doritos in Super Bowl Spot.”
AdWeek, 29 Jan. 2020, https://www.adweek.com/agencies/sam-elliott-lil-nas-x-dance-
battle-doritos-super-bowl/.
Lundstrom, Kathryn, and Monica Marie Zorrilla. “Super Bowl 2020 Ad Tracker: All About the Big
Game’s Commercials.” AdWeek, 2 Dec. 2019, https://www.adweek.com/brand-
marketing/super-bowl-2020-ad-tracker-all-big-game-commercials/.
Zanger, Doug. “4 Ads. 1 Super Bowl. How Goodby Silverstein & Partners Juggled it All.” AdWeek,
1 Feb. 2020, https://www.adweek.com/agencies/4-ads-1-super-bowl-how-goodby-
silverstein-partners-juggled-it-all/.