Furious competition applicants have attacked FMCG brand Doritos over the handling of its ‘You make it, we play it’ ad promotion.
Online forums, including Doritos’ YouTube site, have been inundated with comments from angry applicants claiming that they were unable to submit their ads due to a frequently crashing competition website.
One comment on the YouTube site read: “A lot of us have been robbed of the chance to compete in a fair competition.”
A thread on the ABC’s Gruen Transfer website featured the complaint: “I did not enter this competition myself, but I know several people that poured their own money, time and effort, not to mention pulling massive favours from cast and crew that worked for free, all, it seems, in vain. What a kick in the teeth for people that are struggling at the moment to find paid work in an industry that has lost a lot of jobs.”
Freelancer Tim Maricic told B&T Today: “I submitted my video a few days before the deadline, but couldn’t see it on the website. I kicked up a fuss and they admitted that they received the work but had lost it. They said I wasn’t the only one this had happened to.
“The shame is the video can’t be used for anything else, because it has Doritos branding on it. It would be nice if there was a consumer backlash because they should look after entrants better than this.”
Doritos has unveiled its shortlist of consumer-created ads, although applicants claim that the top 10 is lacking in quality because not all submissions were viewed.
The competition winner will pick up $20,000 in prize money and see their ad for Doritos air on 26 May. Clemenger BBDO handled the competition for Doritos, but refused to comment.
Gerard Smith, marketing director of Smiths Snackfoods, said the competition had been “very successful.”
“In the end we received more than 2000 submissions, which was a lot more than expected. While this volume did present some technical challenges, these were resolved.
“We are extremely happy with the calibre of the final group. While everyone will have their own ideas on who should have won, this is a competition based on skill.”
