food and beverages

Doritos Blaze, Mtn Dew Ice Face Off In Back-to-Back SB Ads

PepsiCo will run consecutive 30-second ads for its two latest millennial-magnet products, Doritos Blaze and Mtn Dew Ice, in a single 60-second slot during this year’s Super Bowl.

According to PepsiCo, this marks the first time that one company has advertised two of its trademark brands back-to-back in one nationally televised Super Bowl commercial. 

A teaser video (below) promises a face-off between actors Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman, representing Doritos Blaze and Mtn Dew Ice, respectively.

Doritos took a year off from the Big Game last year, after ending its 10-year run of “Crash the Super Bowl” fan-generated ads. Mountain Dew’s last Super Bowl ad was 2016’s "Puppymonkeybaby” — a spot that was at or near the top in various performance rankings of the game’s ads, depending on the metrics used. 

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The combined Super Bowl ad “is a great example of the power of PepsiCo's food and beverage portfolio coming to life for consumers on one of the world's largest stages," said PepsiCo North America CEO Al Carey, in the announcement. "Doritos and Mtn Dew go perfectly together, and both brands have passionate fan bases.” 

The combined Super Bowl spot’s concept and the two new PepsiCo products were promoted this morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Sister network NBC is broadcasting this year’s game. 

Blaze follows several other spicy Doritos varieties aimed at the adventurous taste buds of millennials (including Flamas, Spicy Nacho, Spicy Sweet Chili, Tapatio, Jacked Ranch Dipped Hot Wings, and Salsa Verde). But Blaze, sold in packaging featuring flames and thermal imaging handprints on the label, is distinguished by a “complex flavor” and “heat that builds as you crunch,” according to PepsiCo. 

Lemon-lime flavored Ice is designed to reignite Mtn Dew’s sales growth by adding caffeine as a differentiator, thereby winning over millennials who currently choose Sprite or 7Up as a refreshing beverage. 

Last year, PepsiCo promoted Pepsi Zero Sugar during its Super Bowl halftime show featuring Lady Gaga, and used an in-game ad to introduce its premium bottled water brand, Lifewtr.

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