Nostalgic Appeal

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principal character is supplanting somebody else, and enjoying life as the guy being impersonated, at the end he and his crew get discovered once the supplanted person comes into scene, the main setting of this ad happens in a pool party, this is in the context of Mexican culture, evokes that alcohol and sex could be involved, the group of three male friends is displayed having a “Bold Experience”, in each frame Doritos is in the principal character’s hand as if the bag where part of the group, suggesting that every time something farfetched or irreverent will happen Doritos is there hand-by-hand with the consumer (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Doritos Impostor.

Doritos bag shown as part of the group.

Source: Compilation from YouTube (2013)

4.3.2. Nostalgic Appeal

C) Co-Branded with Nintendo. For The Bold (2016). Mexico.

This is an advertisement cobranded with Nintendo, the promotion offers 25 collectable stickers contained in the bags, also, each sticker has a printed code referred to as token which user must register online at Doritos website, in order to participate and possible win some of the promotional video game consoles.

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Remarkable how Doritos uses visual and audio effects from Mario Kart 64 an old videogame released back 1997 (Corbie, 2007), while the main characters depicted by this ad were children during the release of the game, now portrayed as young adults an obvious reference to the so-called millennials generation, in a setting that seems to be boring and plain, a Doritos bag is opened, it is then that a series of nostalgic elements from the mentioned videogame take place (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Nostalgic Elements

Nostalgic elements from the videogame.

Co-Branded with Nintendo. For The Bold (2016). Mexico.

Source: Compilation from YouTube (2016)

D) Pyramids. For The Bold (2016). Mexico.

A young adult male plays the role of an Egyptian emperor, he eats a Doritos chip and gets the inspiration to create an upside down pyramid (Figure 8).

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28 Figure 8 – Doritos, Pyramids

Irreverence as value paradox a highly used element by Doritos campaigns.

Source: Compilation from YouTube (2016)

For this sample, value paradox irreverence is a central element used to construct the concept of the commercial, when seen in perspective nothing in this ad makes sense, starting with the time-space context to where the product is situated in the middle of the desert, objects like an upside down pyramid, camels, a dancing pharaoh eating Doritos. A hidden element could perhaps be interpreted in the inverted pyramid itself, often represented as a conceptual organization structure that attempts to upturn the traditional pyramid of hierarchical societies, usually in this kind of groups key decisions are made by the lowest individuals in the ranking, while progressively adopted by individuals with higher rankings, or might simply be an evocation to the Doritos’ triangular shape, it is hard to tell, it does not matter, the sole purpose of every element in this sample is to be irrelevant.

This ad uses the aforementioned Doritos Titles (Figure 9) that include very contemporary elements in contradiction with the main plot. The whole commercial is more of an irreverent mind-game pieced together to start discussions and create memorability, while enforcing the message of the brand.

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29 Figure 9 – Titles - Doritos for The Bold, Pyramids

Source: Adaptation from YouTube (2013)

E) Walter Mercado. For The Bold (2016). Mexico.

Walter Mercado a Puerto Rican actor and dancer, best known as a television personality for his shows as an astrologer. His astrology predictions aired on Latin America and United States for more than two decades. For this ad he plays the role of a star of the firmament that becomes a constellation smiling from space before a young couple who eats Doritos in his convertible car, probably the most surrealistic ad from Doritos in recent times.

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The celebrated astrologer falls in love with an astronaut costume, eats some Doritos, next the For The Bold Titles (Figure 10), later on, he rejuvenates, is suddenly in space with zero gravity, and abruptly he becomes a constellation that watches over you (Figure 11). In fact, he already knows everything that has happened to him for 50 years, when the Puerto Rican began his astrological predictions.

Figure 10 – Titles - Doritos for The Bold, Walter Mercado

Title 3 Doritos Later; With an explosive sequence of footage evoking highly appealing activities such as sky diving, sex, and alcohol ingestion.

Title 5 Doritos Later; Party, again a highly tantalizing character, and an exploding car.

Source: Adaptation from YouTube (2016)

Choosing Walter Mercado, a character apparently so far from the young audience to which the brand is addressed may seem irrational and in a way it is, because that is what Doritos is looking for, the surprise and the irreverence to reach the millennials and the generation Z (those born from 1995). These generations move in a digital world where the peculiar, the nostalgic and the surprise is transmitted fast by the network. Walter Mercado is a figure that combines all these characteristics: Walter could seem disconnected from an audience of 18, but it's just the opposite. It generates a lot of digital content, it's a unique character. The king of the esoteric, the excessive and antediluvian figure that is Walter Mercado has connected with an audience that Doritos wants to conquer since in 2013 when launched it’s "For the Bold" campaign.

Jorge Martinez, creative director of BBDO Mexico, the agency responsible for the advertisement remarked:

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"We wanted to take his figure (Walter Mercado’s) to the extreme, Walter Mercado always looks at you. It makes enough sense although it seems surreal, from a 30-second commercial, we've got people talking, spreading the story of the ad, and wondering what it means, No one really understands the message of the advertisement, but many say it will change the course of your life, and that for a brand and an advertising agency is a great success." (Univision, 2016).

4.3.3. Musical Appeal