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I created a commercial for the Super Bowl.

It got rejected. 

But! I learned a lot along the way and came out of the process really proud of myself for making it happen. 

Every few years Doritos hosts a “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign asking people to create a 30 second ad for The Big Game. If you win, you get a million dollars and tickets to the Super Bowl. I found out about this campaign by reading the Marketing Brew newsletter and I was like well, how hard can it be? Boys do it. HOW HARD CAN IT BE? BOYS DO IT?

Luckily, I have very talented and willing friends who produce commercials for a living so I sent them this text and they were brave enough to say yes to a girl who doesn’t know the first thing about shooting a commercial, except that she can write one hell of a script (their exact words!!).

Here’s what I learned throughout this whole process, even though our ad was rejected:

#1. Say the bad ideas out loud. The first step in this process was the creative brainstorm. For two hours we threw out every idea – good, bad, and cringey. Some had the potential to get the entire FritoLay brand canceled and some we didn’t have the budget to execute. 

Every idea has potential. That’s why you say all of them out loud in the room. Even the idea you fear will be laughed at or have no response at all (it happens to everyone). Eventually, something you say might spark a creative flow with everyone collaborating to land on The Idea. 

#2. Rejection is part of the creative process. We landed on two separate scripts, hired talent, and executed as best we could with limited resources and no budget. It was a professionally produced commercial that made us laugh and felt worthy of the million dollar prize…but it still didn’t make the cut.

In any creative process or business plan, you have to be willing to take risks and know that rejection is inevitable. Not getting chosen doesn’t mean we’re quitting our day jobs. It just means that not every pitch will be a perfect strike. We stay trying in this industry because we know that rejection does not mean failure.  

#3. Be delusional with your ideas. It might have been delusional to think that I could land a Super Bowl commercial since I’ve never done it before. But I’d rather move through this world believing I have the skills and right people in my life to succeed at that level than let imposter syndrome get the final say. Just because we didn’t get the spot doesn’t mean I didn’t do the thing I set out to do, which was create an ad for the Super Bowl. And you know what? Hell yeah. 

#4. Stay proud of yourself. I remember the day of the shoot hearing actors read the scripts I wrote in a room full of people willing to collaborate with me made me feel so proud of myself for simply trying. I truly had so much fun creating with my friends and stepping outside my comfort zone to try something most people never will.

This was hands down my favorite project I worked on in 2024 and it made me exactly zero dollars. 

Spec ads are a commercial or advertisement that's created to showcase skills or talent without a commission or contract from a brand or agency. In the end, I still have work to show potential clients and add to my portfolio, plus a fun fact for two truths and a lie. 

TLDR? Pitch your ideas, believe in yourself, and stay proud for showing up to make that sh*t happen no matter what. 

Maybe it’s not about the million dollars, but the Doritos we ate along the way...it was a lot of Doritos.

-Nicole

Editor’s Note: I couldn’t go on with my day without asking Nicole if I could see the final commercial. She graciously agreed to share it with us all. The final product gets a standing O from me…

Watch the 30 second commercial here.