This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Two Doritos commercials created by people with Utah ties made it onto the Super Bowl telecast Sunday, and one won a million dollars.
"Pug Attack" was created by J.R. Burningham, who graduated from Alta High and attended the University of Utah but has lived in California for years. The ad was one of the tops on the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter. And in doing so, he added $1 million to the $25,000 he won for finishing in the top five of Doritos' annual Crash the Super Bowl amateur-commercial competition.
The ad featured a guy taunting a pug with Doritos; the dog leaped at a glass door between them and knocked it on top of his tormentor.
The five finalists didn't know if their commercials would be among the three Doritos ads that would air during the Super Bowl. Tyler Dixon's spot, "The Best Part," was telecast early in the game.
"I was sort of overwhelmed," Dixon said. "I was just kind of speechless."
And although the 35-year-old BYU graduate who lives in Lehi didn't add to the $25,000 he'd already won, Dixon said he might be winning again.
"Our ad has had a really positive response from the advertising community," he said. "I've actually had some job offers already."
Dixon's spot featured a guy so enamored with the taste of Doritos that he licked a co-worker's fingers, then ripped the pants off another co-worker after that guy had wiped his Doritos-crusted hands on them.
Scott D. Pierce