Dodgeball Challenge
- Brand
- Doritos
- Year
- 2009
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- AMV BBDO
- With
- UNIT9
Objective
Doritos was launching its new Flamin' Cheeseball flavour in the UK and wanted a stunt loud enough to carry that launch to a young adult audience. The game gave the on-pack Vegas prize promotion and a multimillion-pound TV push a live, daily centrepiece, aiming to build buzz around the flavour and drive sales across the whole Doritos range.
Solution
On the Doritos site, the viewer watched a live video feed of a real dodgeball court in a London studio, with six amateur players standing in a cage on stage. The viewer picked one of six giant dodgeball cannons ringing the court, aimed it at the screen and clicked to fire a real ball at the players, competing daily from 11am to 11pm throughout May. Standard dodgeball rules applied: a hit put a player out, a catch brought a teammate back in, and judges scored each match by counting direct hits, so the online crowd effectively played as one team against whoever was in the cage. Between matches the cage held celebrity targets instead, and each day's session ran until the players were eliminated or the match clock ran out, feeding into a monthlong tournament for a spot against the San Diego Crossfire in Las Vegas.
- 1
The player visits the Doritos UK site during the daily live window, 11am to 11pm through May 2009, and links into a live Dodgeball Challenge broadcast showing a real match in progress on a studio court, with an on-screen team of six real UK and Irish amateur dodgeball players competing for the title.
- 2
The player takes control of one of six giant, internet-controlled dodgeball cannons positioned around the court, aiming it with the mouse at a chosen on-screen player and firing a real dodgeball at them live, with the shot's outcome shown in the same feed.
- 3
A direct hit eliminates the on-screen player, who must leave the game, but if a player catches an incoming ball instead, one of their eliminated teammates returns to play, so the online side faces a team that can rebuild itself.
- 4
The entire online audience plays as a single side against the six players on stage for the duration of a match, and the side that concedes the fewest direct hits wins, as scored by judges off camera.
- 5
Outside match hours, the target rotates: a daily 'Slam a Celeb' hour at 4pm from 5 to 8 May puts celebrities such as Timmy Mallett and Jodie Marsh in the cannons' sights instead of competing teams.
- 6
Away from the site, buying a promotional pack of Doritos enters the buyer in a linked on-pack promotion with a daily chance to win a trip to Las Vegas, the same prize the winning dodgeball team is playing for.
