As more than 116 million viewers tuned into the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIV, former ASU student Patrick Schaefer took his place in history as part of the most-watched television commercial of all time.
Schaefer, who graduated in 2008 with a journalism degree with a concentration in media production, was invited by two friends to work on a user-submitted Doritos commercial.
The 30-second spot was part of Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl Contest, where people submitted videos featuring the chips. Six finalist videos, include Schaefer’s, were chosen by Doritos and each team won $25,000.
“When I first got involved, I wasn’t under the impression that I was actively creating an ad that would be seen by so many people,” he said.
Schaefer served as the production sound mixer and did the post-audio work for the Doritos commercial, which reached 116,231,920 viewers when it aired at 9:30 p.m. on the East Coast — making it the most-watched in TV history, according to Nielsen ratings.
“This project didn’t start out as a huge project,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer wasn’t even sure the commercial would air, believing the available spot had already been filled. By the 4th quarter of the game, the ad had not surfaced.
“I was watching the game with some of the other crew members and voters at an appreciation party thrown by Cole Koehler and Ben Krueger, who spearheaded the creation of the ad,” Schaefer said. “Then we heard from Cole and Ben that a fourth spot was going to run and we still had a chance. Everyone was pretty excited to see the ad show up during the game.”
The commercial featured a man dressed in a samurai suit made from nacho corn chips attacking an unlucky duo who stole his Doritos.
“Ben and Cole are going to share the winnings with the cast and crew, over 20 people I believe, based on each person’s level of involvement,” Schaefer said.
As a part of the contest, the top three ads, as decided by the USA Today AD Meter, would win additional sums of $1 million, $600,000 and $400,000, respectively.
Schaefer’s commercial was ranked as 17th as of Thursday on the AD Meter.
Douglas Olsen, an associate marketing professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business, said the entire series of Doritos ads was extremely effective.
“The last one, with the two guys in the gym, was very successful in generating humor — humor that was directed at the product,” Olsen said.
In the commercial, one man is seen getting struck with a Doritos chip in the neck as if it were a ninja star.
“There was clear execution and a fairly simple message,” he said. “From a marketing standpoint, the humor and execution did not dwarf the intended message.”
Fundamentally, one of the most unique things about the Super Bowl is the amount of people actually paying attention to the advertisements, Olsen said.
“Normally people just get up and walk out of the room during commercials,” Olsen said. “The viewer involvement during the Super Bowl is very high and there is no wonder that many people are viewing it.”
Schaefer said he will continue to look for new projects, working with a wide range of media.
“Typically I’m involved in short films, television programs, corporate videos, commercials, Web content, etc.,” Schaefer said. “Anything needing sound for picture.”
Vincent Blasko, an associate marketing professor at the business school, was less impressed.
Most of the commercials were funny, he said, but not always effective from a marketing standpoint.
Look beyond the laugh and see whether the advertisers are making any sense, Blasko said.
“It is funny when you first look at it, but I don’t think it translates into greater sales or doing too much for the brand,” Blasko said of the Doritos ad. “After the gag is over, you’re not left with much of anything.”
Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu
