Pepsi Super Bowl Commercial

 

Posted by Abe Sauer on January 3, 2011 04:30 PM

Pepsi's Superbowl ad campaign is looking to be a mind-bending exercise in crowdsourcing.
First, Pepsi and Doritos announced "the 10 finalists in the Crash the Super Bowl challenge" which will "compete to be one of six consumer-created ads – three for Doritos and three for Pepsi MAX – airing during the Super Bowl XLV broadcast."
That same day, Catholic activists announced their own crowdsourcing effort: "Ask Pepsi-Doritos to reject a commercial that blasphemes the Holy Eucharist as Doritos Chips and Pepsi."
Comedically silly soda commercials versus humorless religious outrage — a match made in heaven?

The commercial in question, titled "Feed Your Flock" (at top), depicts partitioners taking communion using Pepsi Max and Doritos (instead of wine and crackers). As insulting commercials go, it rates a 3 on a scale of ten.

To the brands' credit, a spokesperson took immediately to the comments section on YouTube to clarify the brands' involvement in the ad:

"I work for Frito-Lay and wanted to clarify that the above-discussed video was an entry in the Crash the Super Bowl contest where consumers were asked to submit ads for Doritos or Pepsi MAX with the chance of airing on the Super Bowl broadcast. The video was created by a consumer and not Doritos or Pepsi MAX."

Of course, the final outcome will be that the ad doesn't have a prayer of being shown at the Super Bowl — not because it's insulting, but (ironically) because it will have already received a ton of exposure as part of the protest.
To compare this with a real Pepsi MAX commercial, here's the latest spot in the brand's official NFL campaign: