Dorito’s Gets Playful In Summer Campaign

A young man sits in a library staring blankly at his laptop screen. On it, his CV, and like most of us he doesn’t know what to say. He pops a Dorito into his mouth… and inspiration strikes.

The “eat our snack and your world transforms” trope has been part of food advertising for decades but like most familiar scenarios there’s a reason brands keep coming back to it: it works. It’s a ready made emotional journey (from the mundane to the exciting) and it’s a great opportunity for some off the wall visuals or funny ideas. So we get a giant dragon statue and some magical basketball skills juxtaposed with the classic CV skillset (Flexibility, Teamwork, etc.).

It’s an ad which feels targeted to a young audience but if so it’s the best kind of targeted ad – one which lands very well with a wider viewing public too. It gets a very strong 4.8-Stars and also does extremely well on short-term Spike and Brand Fluency metrics. Unsurprisingly, as soon as the fun stuff starts happening there’s a big jump in happiness among viewers which lasts until the end of the ad.

Visually the ad hinges on the similarity between the iconic Doritos triangle and the standard media symbol for “Play”, which then opens up the multiple meanings of play, from playfulness to plays in sports. Agency Mother have tied it into an AR campaign with unlockable media and music events, but the “Make Your Play” ad stands on its own as a strong, entertaining ad which makes clever use of one of the brand’s most recognisable assets.