Review of Doritos' "Live the Flavor" Super Bowl XLI Commercial

Take $12.49, stir in five people under 22-years-old and ferment for four days. The result is Doritos' "Live the Flavor" 30-second Super Bowl commercial and winner of the company's "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. It also may be the cheapest Super Bowl commercial produced this year.

Doritos received hundreds of 30-second submissions and narrowed it down to five. Visitors to the Web site (http://promotions.yahoo.com/doritos) voted for their favorite commercial. "Live the Flavor" won and was created by Dale Backus and Five Point Productions from Cary, NC. Not only is it a mini "chick flick" where women will say, "aw," but there's a little bit of action to keep a man's attention.

The commercial opens with a twenty-something-year-old Fred Savage-looking guy (you know, he looks like that kid from the television show "The Wonder Years") driving down the road and reaching for his bag of Doritos. Romantic, Italian sounding music plays in the background. The dude spies a pretty brunette gal walking down the sidewalk who just happens to be enjoying a bag of Doritos, too. She glances over her shoulder and smiles at the driver. The flirting begins and the screen freezes. "Spicy" the screen reads with a red background and the girl frozen in black and white.

Cut back to the young fellow who acknowledges her with a big, goofy grin while holding his bag of Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos. The screen freezes. "Cheesy" pops up with a cheddar-yellow background and the driver frozen in black and white. I chuckle.

The commercial advances, the young dude has his eyes on the gal and "bam!" The car crashes, the driver is thrown forward against his bag of Doritos and chips fly every which way. The screen freezes to a blue background, black and white driver and the word "Crunchy." Doh! Did that just happen? I feel his pain.

Smoke emits from the car, the dude appears to be okay and like a perfect super hero or one of "Charlie's Angels," the young woman dashes over to help. Screen freezes with a green background, black and white gal and the word "Bold" to describe her action.

She runs into traffic holding her bag of Doritos. Horns honk and brakes screech. Her arm is extended as she's about to save her new suitor. The screen freezes her in black and white with a tan background and "Smooth?" pops up. I can feel her sense of urgency, but why is there a question mark at the end of "smooth?"

The dude watches the young super hero-like gal rushing over and just as she reaches the car, she disappears. All he sees are flying chips.

The last shot shows the two of them: he poking his head out of the passenger's window and she on hands and knees after tripping. The words, "Live the Flavor" span the bottom as they smile at each other.

This Super Bowl commercial does an effective job of describing the many flavors and expectations of Doritos. The two actors add authenticity to the product. They exhibit real human qualities and within the 30-seconds, I found them endearing.

View "Live the Flavor" here: