Doritos Stage Fiery Experiential Marketing Challenge

Traditionally, the triangular tortilla chip company is known for their entertaining viral adverts. The Doritos brand is big and bold, and they have become one of a few companies who are praised for their creative advertising during the Super Bowl halftime show year upon year. However, it now looks like the company are changing their winning formula. Instead of using humour to connect with their target audience, the brand is getting creative - and by creative I mean experiential.

If you don’t already know, Doritos have released a new line of their iconic tortilla chips, “Doritos Roulette”. This new concoction is similar to the original tangy cheese flavour – the key difference being that in each bag there are several chips coated in fiery jalapeno flavouring. The twist is that the flavouring is invisible, so you risk experiencing some pretty serious heat with every bite. “Doritos Roulette” has turned sharing chips and dip with friends into a whole new experience – an entertaining and sharable one – not dissimilar to Jelly Belly BeanBoozled jelly beans which featured all the usual jelly bean flavours mixed in with the odd dog food or skunk spray bean – delish.

In order to generate a buzz around the launch of their new product, Doritos have staged a brand experience in which groups of friends were asked if they were brave enough to take part in “a bold challenge”. The groups were taken to an unknown location where they would each choose a door and have to face whatever was behind it. All but one member of the group would end up on a comfortable sofa – eating Doritos and sipping on a cold drink – whilst one unfortunate friend would be met with a strip of hot coals which they must walk over as their peers look on in order to win an extravagant night out on a private jet.

The idea behind the stunt was to mirror the boldness and excitement of trying the brands new product, whilst fitting into their wider “For The Bold” campaign encouraging people to try new & exciting things when they hang out with friends and share them with the brand via social media. This stunt was one of several instalments in what is sure to be a fiery campaign to come.