February 4, 2008 4:57 AM PST

Guy in a mouse suit wins Super Bowl (ad, that is)

by Caroline McCarthy
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Doritos parent company Frito-Lay has been a proponent of the user-generated TV ad for some time now. Last year, it kicked off its "Crash the Super Bowl" advertising campaign, in which ordinary people (OK, ordinary people with nice cameras and video-editing skills) created ads for the cheesy chips and submitted them to the company, where they were promptly posted on YouTube.

For Super Bowl XLII, in which many of the game's high-profile ads turned out to be disappointing or downright stupid (at least in my opinion--but the Budweiser ads were pretty good this year), the second annual "Crash the Super Bowl" ad from Doritos took the cake, er, tortilla chip. "Mouse Trap" was actually one of 2007's finalists, but many viewers, myself included, hadn't seen it yet.

Doritos also jumped into unconventional advertising when it became the "sponsor" of Stephen Colbert's tragically short-lived presidential campaign; the comedian-turned-politician proceeded to constantly and conspicuously munch on Doritos throughout the course of his Comedy Central show.

P.S.: Eat it, Pats!

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
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Stupid!
by robbzerr February 4, 2008 6:17 AM PST
That was lame. The best commercials were the Coke ones - the Macy's balloons and the political pundits were hilarious! The Bud one with the horse in training with the Dalmation was good too.
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Guy with stain on his shirt
by mmichaels February 4, 2008 6:22 AM PST
The mouse commercial was pretty dumb, in my opinion. The one for the fabric eraser when the guy had the distracting stain on his shirt was the funniest one I saw.
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Yep...
by gsmiller88 February 4, 2008 7:04 AM PST
I didn't even see this Dorito's commercial....Kinda glad I didn't!
Yes, I busted a gut at this one
by MrsSpooky February 4, 2008 2:32 PM PST
After the squeaker of a game, I nearly forgot about the
commercials. They WERE mostly forgettable, but THIS one with the
talking stain just had me rolling helplessly on the floor. GOOD
ONE! ;D
violence
by scottwilkins February 4, 2008 6:26 AM PST
It seemed to me that a LOT of the superbowl ads this year had a violet theme to them. Sad.
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Pepsi MAX - Night at the Roxburry
by allen b--2008 February 4, 2008 7:11 AM PST
The Pepsi MAX commercial, and the Doritos Mouse commercial were the only 2 that made be actually laugh out loud. But I would give the winner to the Pepsi MAX. Especially with the ending, when they are doing the Roxburry head bob, instead of the Jello-neck head bob.
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eTrade hands down
by cwkoller February 4, 2008 7:16 AM PST
Both the spit-up and the clown ads with the talking baby were the
hit of our SB party.
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About The Social

CNET News' Caroline McCarthy is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. She's happily addicted to fun social-media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook, sends an inordinate number of text messages, and has a tendency to waste time at the office reading restaurant blogs. Here, she explores all facets of the Web's gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture in her home city of New York. (Don't call it Silicon Alley.)

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