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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!

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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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