doritos
Latest
Junk technology: A ridiculous history of fast-food PR stunts
Who doesn't love a good, over-the-top marketing stunt? Recently we've seen a lot of those, including Pizza Hut's Pizza Parka, a coat made out of the same insulating materials as its delivery pouches. Because why not? That ridiculous product from Pizza Hut shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, this is the same company that made shoes that can order a pie for you. But Pizza Hut isn't the only one trying to get creative using technology to promote its brand.
We destroyed a collectible Doritos bag to get at its hidden MP3 Player
Junk food and summer blockbusters go hand in hand -- from the nachos, popcorn and candy you buy at the cinema, to action-hero faces plastered on every brand of potato chips at the supermarket. This has been the way of the world as long as I can remember, but this summer, the pairing may have reached its apex. In a perfect storm of brand synergy, nostalgia and guilty pleasures, Marvel has decided to release the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in the most unconventional format imaginable: a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos.
A Doritos bag is all you need to play the 'Guardians 2' soundtrack
Doritos is teaming up with Marvel Studios to promote Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in an unusual way. They've created a custom-designed, limited edition series of Doritos bags with a built-in, rechargeable cassette deck-inspired player that plays the movie's full soundtrack.
Amazon flashes Prime Air drone delivery in its Super Bowl ad
The game is over, but Amazon managed to stand out with a brief (if also disgusting) 10-second spot. Unfortunately, other than the voice-controlled shopping via Echo, it needed a disclaimer that "Prime Air isn't available in some states (or any really). Yet" but Prime Air is looking surprisingly realistic these days. Until then, though, it may be easier to prune your Super Bowl party guest list carefully.
Guild Wars 2 retools commander icons, fees
As Massively's Anatoli Ingram discussed in his Flameseeker Chronicles column yesterday, Guild Wars 2's September feature pack will include significant changes to the commander system that marks player volunteers as leaders on various world maps. After the patch, commander tags will become account-bound rather than character-bound, meaning your newbie Asura can strut around Metrica Province as if she owns the place. Consequently, tags will triple in price to 300 gold. Players will also be able to customize their icons with spiffy new colors intended to "facilitate a range of tactical uses" like organizing groups in PvE and PvP. Already a commander? Lucky you: ArenaNet says you'll be grandfathered into the new system for no extra fee. The studio plans to consider "possibilities for recognizing experienced and prestigious commanders" in the future.
Win a Xbox One via Doritos, Mountain Dew promotion online, at PAX Prime
Microsoft has partnered with the Doritos and Mountain Dew brands to give away thousands of Xbox Ones in exchange for the longevity of your health, a press release revealed last week. Specially-marked packages of Mountain Dew and Doritos will contain codes to be used as currency in online auctions for Xbox One consoles beginning on November 5. Participants can begin to stockpile codes on the contest's website on September 30, but nothing's stopping anyone from stockpiling the snack foods for the next two months. PAX Prime attendees can also scan QR codes hidden in the convention center to bid on Xbox One systems in an auction on Sunday from 9 p.m. til midnight PST. The QR codes can be scanned with the PAX Guidebook App to bid on one of 30 Xbox One consoles, as well as subscription cards, gaming headsets and general merchandise. The press release notes that some codes "are worth more than others," so scrounging for as many as you can find might be worth your time.
Halo 4 players cry out from atop Mt. Dew, 'Where's our double XP?' [Update: Microsoft responds]
The promotional union between Halo 4 and PepsiCo, the latter being proprietor of the vast Doritos and Mountain Dew empires, is drawing ire from the game's community today – not for the delicious blend of accelerated promotion and bold spices, but because it's not working. Players are running into issues getting their bonus experience points.Halo 4 owners must register on a promotional website before applying their codes to the game, but even those who have done so are claiming their double XP rewards as missing in action. Microsoft has yet to respond to the Halo Waypoint forums in which the complaints originate.We've contacted Microsoft to see if this is an acknowledged issue and, if so, what steps are being taken to rectify it. In the meantime, it may behoove you to hold back on the double XP and level up like the common people.Update: A Microsoft spokesperson told Joystiq that the company is aware of the issue and has already resolved it. "Last week we were made aware that some users were not being properly rewarded Double XP, and we promptly addressed the situation. Double XP rewards are now working as intended. There are still a few users that we are currently working to credit their accounts with Double XP games that were lost."[Thanks, Graeme.]
Halo 4 comes to iOS ... as a Mountain Dew/Doritos/7-Eleven promo app
The good news: There's an official Halo 4 game on iOS. The better news: it's free! The moment you become furious with us for those first two sentences: the full name of the app is "Halo 4: King of the Hill Fuled by Dew." Yes, "fuled."The exclusive soft-drink soaked experience brings in 7-Eleven and Doritos for the most authentic Halo experience, allowing you to compete to become "king of the hill." And by "hill" we mean "7-Eleven," by "king" we mean "person who is always in a 7-Eleven," and by "compete" we mean "scan Mountain Dew and Doritos products in that 7-Eleven you're constantly loitering in."You'll unlock double XP and an "Exclusive Custom Locus Helmet" for the non-Dew-fueled Xbox 360 Halo 4 by playing, and you'll forever associate "alien warzones" with 7-Eleven. Just like they want you to, apparently.
Halo 4 teams up with Doritos and Mountain Dew for double XP
While you may think that science and malleable metal alloys comprise the majority of what makes a Spartan so special, the reality is that even John-117 himself is little more than a crunchy cool ranch husk filled with carbonated green stuff. Spartans are made of Doritos and Mountain Dew, is what we're saying – that's why the PR partnership between Halo 4 and PepsiCo seems like such a no-brainer.Potential players can get a head start on accruing extra experience by registering an account over at dewxp.com or doritosxp.com. Select codes from Mountain Dew and Doritos packages – starting on October 15 – can be used to increase your XP in Halo. There are also goodies up for grabs, including consoles and controllers, Warthog toys and free Xbox Live subscriptions, among many other prizes.
PSA: Capcom wants to buy your Resident Evil stories at a fair price
Capcom wants to tell the world how much of a scaredy-cat sap you are, but since it doesn't have cameras installed in your consoles (yet) it needs your help. To celebrate HD versions of RE 4 and Code Veronica X hitting Xbox Live and PSN in September, Capcom is making a video series of its fans' most memorable moments and wants your best freak outs, sob stories and nostalgia bombs to share with the world. Send your stories to the games' official site in the form of text, videos, photos, shoebox diorama, or whatever twisted method you can concoct, for the chance to be featured in the video and win some mysterious prizes. If we were sentimental, we'd tell Capcom about our junior year, where every day after school we went to our best friend's house to play RE 4, fingers orange with Doritos residue, screaming and spilling Coke on the carpet whenever Leon ran into a bag-headed madman, then laughing for no good reason other than the knowledge that it was the best time of our young lives. If we were sentimental. If.
15 Minutes of Fame: Award-winning Doritos ad writer rocks Horde pride
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. Football fans, we love you and we do feel your rightful enthusiasm, but admit it: The TV commercials are the best part of every Super Bowl. Just a few short weeks or months after the game, most people don't remember much about the games themselves -- but I'll bet most of us remember the Doritos commercial where the unsuspecting corporate cube drone lobs a snowglobe into his boss's nads. That 2009 ad spot grabbed the #1 ad meter position away from Budweiser for the first time in 10 years. Its creators: two of the five Herbert brothers -- and yes, 15 Minutes of Fame regulars, you guessed it ... three of them play World of Warcraft. Since the Doritos bonanza landed Joe Herbert and his brother Dave on Leno, The Today Show, and more, the duo has been hard at work turning out more hip commercials and a board game that's in stores now. The thing that caught our attention, though, was the fantastic cinematic Joe produced for the guild he and another brother lead, and the Warsong Band. Settle in for an enjoyable trip through the history of the Warsong Band, above, and then join us for a chat with Joe Herbert for Doritos, snowglobes, PvP, board games and more.
Doritos Crash Course wins Unlock Xbox challenge
You think little Jill Robertson ever imagined she'd grow up to be a game consultant ... for Doritos? As the winner of the Doritos "Unlock Xbox" challenge, Robertson will have the opportunity to work a six-month stint for the chip maker, baking up gaming ideas. She's also pocketed $50,000. Robertson's Doritos Crash Course beat out Justin Carpenter's Harms Way in the three-week voting period that began earlier this month when the two finalists' games were released for free on Xbox Live Arcade. According to Frito-Lay, the games accounted for more than two million combined downloads during that time, and they'll remain available as free XBLA games for the foreseeable future. In a "last-minute twist," Doritos also awarded Carpenter a $50,000 cash prize, though he would appear to be stuck at his plain old day job for now.
Get into Harms Way, Doritos Crash Course and Bomberman Battlefest on XBLA today
The two final contenders in the Doritos-sponsored "Unlock Xbox" game design contest have been fully realized and released as Xbox Live Arcade games today, for free. Until December 26, you can cast your vote for either Doritos Cash Course (download) or Harms Way (download) through the Xbox Unlock ad on the Dashboard, with the winner to be announced on December 29 and offered a 50G (that's dollars, not Achievement points) part-time, game consulting gig with Doritos. Perhaps overshadowed by the flavorful showdown, the previously announced Bomberman Live sequel, Battlefest (download), is also available on the Arcade today for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Additionally, the third Lara Croft: GoL challenge pack add-on, "A Hazardous Reunion" (download), has been released for 400 points ($5), along with the "Marvel Pinball" tables (download/trial) for Pinball FX 2, priced at 800 points. Update: The Costume Quest DLC "Grubbins on Ice" (download) has also been released today for 400 points.
Harms Way goes from dream to screens, trailer
It's so rare that we get into something before it's cool, that we have to savor it when it happens. In January, we were smitten with the concept behind Dorito's Unlock Xbox finalist Harms Way. Well, a little less than a year of development later and creator Justin Carpenter and developer Bongfish are putting the finishing touches on the shooting-driving hybrid and prepping it for release this month. It will vie for votes with Jill Robertson's Avatar Crash Course. We've got a bunch of screens and the first trailer after the break, as well as a quick chat in which IRS staffer and college student Justin tells us how the reality of game development stacks up to the dream. %Gallery-108584%
Madden 11 finally gets oft-requested Doritos 3D functionality
In one of the most bizarre yet unavoidable cross-promotions to ever rear its head in the video game industry, EA Sports and Doritos Flavor-Dusted Corn Chips™ have announced a new "Doritos 3-D mode" accessible in Madden 11. To unlock the new visuals, which we assume introduce a 3D effect into the game (and don't turn everything on the field into Doritos), you've got to enter in a code found in specially marked packs of the aforementioned snack chips, then strap on a pair of old-school red-and-cyan glasses -- or the Doritos-branded glasses currently on sale for $2.99. (Fun fact: the glasses and the snack taste about the same!) We'd love to see exactly what "Doritos 3-D mode" entails, but unfortunately, these codes are only available in packs of Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese 'itos. Our refined palette requires more sophisticated flavor-hues, like Ragin' Lobster Bisque and Extreme Herbes de Provence Chicken with Mushroom Reduction.
Halo: Reach marketing campaign flexes giant robo-arm
What's gonna give Halo: Reach the best shot at topping Modern Warfare 2's $310 million in day-one sales? Marketing. Much to no one's surprise, Microsoft is splurging on its biggest game campaign to date, according to Advertising Age. While Reach's marketing budget has not been disclosed, it's expected to easily top Halo 3's reported $6.5 million bill. The ad campaign, which began in earnest with a big-budget plug ... for the multiplayer beta (way back in April), will continue to use live-action segments to attempt to forge an emotional connection with a broad audience across TV and the web. "We're trying to get people to connect back to their lives, not computer graphics or something overly sci-fi," Taylor Smith, director of global marketing communications for Xbox, told Ad Age. "Live action is a way to capture that." In particular, director Noam Murro (Smart People) has created three live-action short films that depict life on planet Reach before the Covenant invasion. Meanwhile, potential buyers will be urged to "remember Reach" as they consume Pepsi products. A renewed partnership between Microsoft and the snack-time mogul will put Halo branding on some 300 million Mountain Dew bottles and 30 million Doritos bags beginning next month. Of course, to top past efforts, Microsoft will expand the Reach campaign beyond these somewhat pedestrian reminders: Cue massive KUKA KR 140 robotic arm! The viral site RememberReach.com, which becomes fully operational at 3AM ET tomorrow, features a user-generated light sculpture of Reach's Noble Team, created by the robo-arm and some fancy camera equipment. Typically used to assemble cars, this KUKA bot has been outfitted with an LED and stationed in an undisclosed San Francisco warehouse. As detailed by GameLife, visitors will direct the machine to plot the 54,000 points of light that will form this Noble Team "monument." Bizarre. Halo: Reach launches on September 14.
Get your big break in Pro Gaming thanks to Doritos
Do you want to get in fighting shape for your pro gaming debut? Turn to Doritos! The "bold, intense snack brand" announced a "Pro-Gaming Combine" -- essentially a training camp for kids who want to play Halo 3 for a living. During the three-day event, players who show promise in the areas of "slaying power, teamwork/communication, leadership, objective play and support play" will undergo further evaluation by the "MLG Scout Team," just like in sports! One four-person team and four individuals from each location winning a trip to the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Event and National Championship Competition. Team passes for the first event, in Nashville, Tennessee, go on sale at 7PM EST tonight, with individual passes available tomorrow at the same time. The full schedule of Combines is available after the break.
You can choose the Madden 11 cover athlete
Another year, another Madden cover announcement. But wait, this year has a twist! EA and Doritos have teamed up with a unique promotion, allowing fans to vote on who they want to grace the cover of this year's annual gridiron update. The three candidates for this year's cover include Vikings' defensive end Jared Allen, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne. It may be tempting to choose your favorite athlete out of the bunch, but we urge you to play it smart. Instead, think about this as a strategic opportunity to inflict the Madden Curse on your most hated team! Best of all, you can vote every day to inflict as much negative karma as possible. In addition to being able to decide who lands the cover of Madden 11, the Doritos-sponsored promotion also offers entry into a contest. Most notably, the weekly grand prize is a trip for two to see the NFL Draft in New York City this April. Considering you don't have to buy a single bag of Doritos to participate, this promo seems like a must for any NFL fan.
Doritos Unlock Xbox finalists narrowed to two
We hate to pick sides, but we think we've already settled on a favorite competitor of the two Doritos Unlock Xbox finalists. See if you can detect which one. Jill Robertson's "Avatar Crash Course": Maneuver your Avatar through a zany obstacle course. Justin Carpenter's "Harm's Way": It's just like your favorite racing game, except oh shit there are snipers shooting at you. Both finalists will work with a dev team to turn their idea into reality before being judged by the community, but we frankly don't see the point. The visceral thrill of racing combined with the heart-pounding exhilaration of knowing someone's trying to shoot your gas tank? Watch out, Gran Turismo! ... Actually, watch out, everybody ... you know, because of all the snipers.
