Print This
Email This“Greetings, earthlings. Take me to your nearest 7-11 so I can buy some Doritos.”
Not the words I thought extra-terrestrials would be uttering in their first conversations with us, but maybe Doritos is on to something.
Doritos new contest invites the British public to film 30-second spots about life here on Earth while simultaneously promoting the cheesy tortilla chips. On June 12, the winning commercial will be beamed into outerspace—to Ursa Major, some 42 light years away.
This advertising campaign is fascinating to me, and not because Doritos is trying to target alien consumers, but because of the relatively large amount of press coverage Doritos is receiving from this far-fetched idea.
All of the links in this post are articles about the competition, and I’ve seen mentions of it in numerous print publications. Not one article exposes the company for implementing a highly developed, extremely creative, very expensive media campaign. But, isn’t that exactly what this is?
The idea is so outlandish and innovative that it makes pitching relatively unnecessary. Who wouldn’t be intrigued about intergalactic advertising?
Even if the message doesn’t reach its target audience, Doritos has done a great job of capturing the attention of those here on Earth. And, aren’t we the ones with the buying power? 
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Interesting ad campaign. I like the idea, but it might not be as effective amongst all millennials, as this article suggests - On space, Generation Y prefers cyber to outer
Jaclyn,
Thanks for the comment! That MSNBC article you referenced provided some insight into the attitudes that Gen Y has toward space exploration, but maybe campaigns like the Doritos one will help re-engage our culture in these programs.
I don’t know anything about space and current initiatives that scientists and astronauts are participating in, but Doritos innovative campaign certainly showed me that nothing is impossible and our options are anything but limitless, whether it’s from a marketing or scientific standpoint.
I meant “limited.” Oops.