Mix Arcade
Read the story- Brand
- Doritos
- Year
- 2016
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Arcade & Action
- Platform
- Installation
- Agency
- HYFN
Objective
Frito-Lay used the 2016 launch of Doritos Mix (Cheese Explosion and Taco Explosion) to reach gamers directly, giving fans a reason to buy a bag while marking the brand's 50th anniversary on ground its core audience already lived on.
Solution
At doritosmix.com, the player picks one of four retro arcade cabinets — Chip Defenders, Chip Kwon Do, Dinamita Detonator, Twist Cannon — and plays right in the browser, each game standing in for a flavor in the mix. Wins earn tokens, and entering the ten-digit code from the back of a Doritos Mix bag (or calling in for a free one) adds more. Tokens buy a turn on a virtual claw machine that drops instant prizes. During E3 in Los Angeles, the same games ran on physical arcade cabinets, and top scorers were invited on stage to steer a six-story claw machine with a six-foot joystick under a 45-foot LED screen. In the days before that, a real claw machine sat on camera and Twitch chat voted on every move.
- 1
The player lands on the promo site doritosmix.com, which opens on an 8-bit-style arcade splash screen with a loading animation.
- 2
From a hub screen the player picks one of four browser-based retro arcade games — Chip Defenders, Chip Kwon Do, Dinamita Detonator, or Twist Cannon — each themed to a different chip in the Doritos Mix line and built around 8-bit sound, explosions, and screen shake.
- 3
Winning a game earns tokens, the arcade's internal currency; players can also earn tokens without playing by entering a ten-character alphanumeric code from the back of a Doritos Mix bag (good for 8 plays) or by calling a toll-free hotline for a free daily bag code (up to two per day, also good for 8 plays each).
- 4
Players spend tokens on turns in a virtual claw machine, where a claw drops for a prize and the outcome — win or lose — is revealed instantly; prizes include a GoPro, an Xbox One, Beats headphones, a Parrot drone, and lower-tier branded merch, with play capped at 16 entries per person per day.
- 5
In a parallel live version, Twitch viewers watch a real claw machine over two GoPro livestreams and steer its claw by voting on direction in chat, with the crowd's combined votes moving it.
- 6
At E3, visitors play the same four games on physical arcade cabinets with added levels, and a high score earns an invitation to play again on a giant six-foot joystick and oversized buttons feeding a massive LED screen mounted within a six-story structure over the main stage.
- 7
In the evening the same LED screen switches to concert visuals, where attendees' color-coded LED wristbands unlock bonus effects during performances and Twitch chat votes continue to influence the show.
