Feb. 02--Chicago native Scott Zabielski will be able to fly first class after winning the $1 million grand prize in the Doritos Super Bowl ad contest. His homemade spot, "Middle Seat," received the most fan votes and aired during the game Sunday night.
The runner-up spot, "When Pigs Fly," also ran during the Super Bowl, netting creator Graham Talbot $50,000. Ten finalists competed in the Doritos' ninth annual "Crash the Super Bowl" online contest.
" 'Middle Seat' is creative, bold and original, representing everything the Doritos brand and our 'Crash the Super Bowl' contest is about," Ram Krishnan, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay North America said in a statement. "Rising to the top among nearly 4,900 competitors from all over the world is no easy feat."
Zabielski, a producer of "Tosh.0" on Comedy Central, was raised in suburban Long Grove and Naperville and lives in Los Angeles. The newly minted millionaire said he has no plans to quit his day job, and was on his way back to Los Angeles on Monday, where the TV show is in production. But he is hoping his Super Bowl victory will lead to new opportunities in the entertainment industry.
"I hope this is an opportunity to do another commercial and then in the long run, direct a movie," said Zabielski, 35. "But even if you got to direct a movie, it's not likely that 100 million people are going to see it. This might be the pinnacle in terms of getting the most people to see my work."
The 30-second commercial, created in two weeks for $2,000 and with a little help from his friends, humorously depicts an air passenger going to great lengths to keep the middle seat empty until he finds the right traveling companion.
The 10 finalists all attended Super Bowl XLIX and watched the game from a private suite, where they learned who won the contest as commercials aired.
Zabielski's spot was chosen as the grand prize winner through an online vote, earning him $1 million and a job at Universal Pictures in Hollywood. The runner-up spot was selected by the Doritos team. The eight finalists whose commercials didn't air during the broadcast each won $25,000.
Both homemade Doritos spots did well from a creative standpoint, earning the brand a B grade in the annual Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review.
Tim Calkins, a Kellogg marketing professor who heads the Super Bowl review, said "Middle Seat" was among the game's highest-rated commercials.
"People really liked the spot," Calkins said. "The branding was strong and that spot really broke through the clutter."
The game, which aired on NBC, featured 39 minutes, 45 seconds of paid messages, trailing only last year's Super Bowl in total commercial time, according to Kantar Media. Nearly one-fourth of the total broadcast was devoted to advertising.
NBC charged $4.5 million per 30-second spot for the Super Bowl XLIX broadcast from Glendale, Ariz. On Monday, NBC Sports said the New England Patriots' close victory over the Seattle Seahawks was seen by 114.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen, making it the largest audience in U.S. television history.
While Zabielski was in Arizona for the game, he was not unaffected by the blizzard that descended upon his hometown Sunday. His parents, who still live in Chicago, had planned a huge Super Bowl party for friends, neighbors and a large extended family to cheer on Zabielski and his Super Bowl spot.
"Nobody could get to their place, so they ended up watching it by themselves," Zabielski said.
rchannick@tribpub.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
