Football season has come to an end and the University of South Carolina ad refs have made their final call – the Doritos Samurai commercial is the winner of the Cocky’s Super Ad Poll.

Students in Professor Bonnie Drewniany’s Honors College Super Bowl Advertising class gathered for the big game on Sunday evening and rated each national ad in three categories: persuasion, brand identity, and likability.

Casey Engel, a junior who is enrolled in the class said: “As an advertising major, it’s useful to come together as a group to analyze the commercials on important criteria like persuasiveness and brand identity, instead of simply how much they make you laugh. A casual viewer might say a commercial is good if it’s funny, but from an industry standpoint it takes much more to be effective; it takes a combination of all three factors.”

Winner of Cocky's Super Ad Bowl Poll: Doritos Samurai

The creator of the winning ad will be invited to campus to receive the coveted Cocky Award this semester. “This is the first time that a consumer-generated ad has won the poll. It will be fascinating to hear the story behind the ad,” Drewniany said.

Doritos aired four-consumer created commercials during the Super Bowl. Amateurs were given the opportunity to compete with the pros by submitting ads in the $600,000 competition. Consumer votes determined the winners from six finalists, and Doritos Samurai was one of the ads selected in the nationwide vote to air during the Super Bowl.

All four Doritos commercials resonated with the students. “Doritos has undoubtedly released some of the most humorous, likeable, and
entertaining commercials of the evening,” graduate student Lauren Quick said.

Matt Conley, a management science major, said: “Doritos may be onto something with consumer-created ads. All of them were a hit and marketed the product appropriate.” And Megan Brown, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, added, “I thought the Doritos commercials were great, and they were all consumer-made, which is pretty awesome.”

Bud Light’s “House Made of Bud Light” was second and Volkswagen’s “Punch Dub” placed third overall.

“The ads seemed more upbeat and humorous this year,” said Charles Bierbauer, dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies

Dr. Tom Weir, associate professor said, “This is one of the most innovative student activities I’ve ever seen. The students love to be actively involved in judging the ads,” said

Alumni and friends of the School voted online using the same criteria. Google Lovebirds was chosen the best overall commercial.

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The State
Doritos ad takes Cocky Award: Super Bowl spot tops in USC class' poll

Comments from The State readers:
Jaybird wrote on 02/09/2010 09:00:49 AM:
As an old ad guy, I have experienced Prof. Drewniany's expertise, wisdom and talent for teaching and motivating would-be ad professionals. This is a great idea for a class, highlighting and recognizing the best of the best in mass consumer advertising. Kudos to USC for leading again in an exciting professional field.