Alum’s Super Bowl Ad Wins $1 Million Prize
We at UVA Today headquarters can now brag: We blogged about Matthew Friedman weeks before he, his brother, an actor friend and Huff the Great Dane found fame and fortune by winning a Super Bowl ad contest.
Matthew Friedman is the 1995 U.Va. Arts & Sciences alum, who, with his brother, entered a commercial for Doritos in the annual “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. Matthew contacted us looking to drum up online votes to get his creation — which he claims to have shot for less than $20 — aired during the Super Bowl broadcast. That effort succeeded, and he won $25,000 and tickets to the game.
That fairy tale would probably have been enough for anyone. Then came even more amazing news: A USA Today panel of experts selected the Friedmans’ ad as the most popular spot to be aired during the game, winning them a cool $1 million.
Read more about the big win here. And in case you missed it, here’s the winning effort:
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eLSA | February 6, 2012 @ 12:42 pm
This is one of the best superbowl commercials. It was great!Much better than the Elton John commercial or others that cost big bucks. Good job!
Angela | February 6, 2012 @ 1:19 pm
BEST EVER! Go DOGS!
Carolyn | February 6, 2012 @ 1:52 pm
I giggled, but my cat didn’t like it.
Davidson | February 6, 2012 @ 4:31 pm
His brother Johnathan Friedman, and the actor, Derek Leonidoff were both JMU grads (’94/’97).
Virginia is really flexing its muscle today.
chris | February 6, 2012 @ 5:24 pm
wahoo wah great job. That proves a lil smarts can make a big bite. And remember you didn’t see anyting. Great day to be a Cav fan.
Ellen | February 7, 2012 @ 9:42 am
Best commercial of the super bowl! And I’m a cat lover!
Lauren | February 10, 2012 @ 5:44 pm
@Davidson. If you go on JMU’s website, they don’t even mention the fact that Johnathan had a brother.
Matt Friedman | February 17, 2012 @ 3:20 am
Thanks for the nice writeup, and the complimentary comments. And no worries about JMU not mentioning me; as the younger brother, I’m used to it! Anyway, I’m very glad I could help continue the tradition of UVA grads representing well at the Doritos ad contest, and I appreciate all the support we got from Hooville!