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Show StatesmanCampus News Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 Page 3 Commercial for Super Bowl gaining views By ARIANNA REES staff writer A bag of Doritos and a day's work could win USU MBA student Cory Keate and his colleagues $25,000 and a chance to have their own Doritos advertisement aired on national television during the Super Bowl. Keate, his uncle Dave Kotter, and Ron Adair of the Logan marketing firm Adair Creative Group created a 30-second ad in response to the Doritos and Pepsi Max "Crash the Super Bowl" advertising contest. The contest challenged amateur cinematographers across the nation to create commercials that could potentially represent these two companies during next year's Super Bowl. The top five finalists for both Doritos and Pepsi Max will take home $25,000, and those voted into the top three in each category by the public will have airtime during the Super Bowl. There is also a later chance to win $1 million if the top three ads of the Super Bowl, as decided by USA Today, are worthy of being Doritos or Pepsi Max commercials. Adair believes that his group has, at the least, a "good chance of making the top five finalists." In their ad, Keate plays the entitled grandson of Kotter and pulls up to his grandfather's property in his Porsche during the opening scene. Kotter is outside with a woodchipper and asks his grandson for some help. He then pretends that his arm gets caught in the machine so that he can steal Keate's bag of Doritos. After only a few weeks online, the crew's video, titled "The Woodchipper (Alternative)," has received over 27,000 hits on crashthesuperbowl.com , and moved from position 9,205 to 50 in the first day, Adair said. "The ones ahead of us have been there for at least four weeks," he said. "They had a three-to-four week lead on us, and we caught right up to them." Adair, who attended the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and has been involved with photography for more than 16 years, wanted to participate in the contest last year. It was a trip to The Pickleville Playhouse that helped him discover Keate, who has worked there for three years, and convince him to help with the ad. Though they were not able to participate last year, Keate said they learned some things to help them make a better attempt this year. "We started brainstorming. We were doing it mostly for fun. Of course we had that hope that things would work, that our commercial could be Super Bowl material," Keate said. Adair said they wanted to try to see how a small-town, local advertisement could fare against the rest of the country. "We didn't care so much about the prize," he said. They decided to focus on a spoiled grandson being tricked by his grandfather. Idea-forming proved easier than actual filming, Keate said. "Once you start filming, you have an idea that seems so simple, but it turns out being a lot of work. It's a big challenge to create what you saw in your mind and bring it all together," he said. Both Keate and Adair remarked that the whole process of putting the film together was "incredible" and "a happy accident." Actual filming didn't occur until the day before their deadline, and acquiring props was what Keate called "a mixture of luck and blessings." "We wanted a really nice sports car," he said. "Come to find out, that's one of the hardest things to find in Logan." The group tried several businesses without success until they met with Jordan Peterson, who is employed at the Murdock Hyundai dealership near Hyde Park. "We showed him what we wanted for our commercial, but he still didn't have what we were looking for," Keate said. "We were about to leave when he said, 'I have a black convertible Porsche Boxter that you could use. It's mine and it's out back. Could that work?' It Briefs Campus & Community Officials say Old Main Hill unsafe AN MBA STUDENT, Cory Keate, created a commercial for the Doritos and Pepsi Max "Crash the Super Bowl" contest that has potential to be aired during the Super Bowl if its high views continue. Photo courtesy Cory Keate was exactly what we were looking for. " Peterson said he had two reasons for lending them the car. "I have friends that are into making movies. I didn't know if they were that type, but I thought it was really cool. And if they would have been doing a school project, I probably wouldn't have lent it, but since it was something as big as the Super Bowl, I thought it was pretty neat," he said. Without the budget to buy a woodchipper, Keate said that they again searched town for something they could use and found one at Northwest Rentals. Again, they were lent one for free. While the cost of the average Super Bowl commercial can be over $1 million, Keate said his crew only spent $59. "Half of that was spent filling up gas for the guy who lent us the car," he said, "and then we bought a v-neck shirt because I needed to look hipper than I am. The rest was for the Doritos." Instead of holding auditions for the part of the grandfather, he suggested his uncle. "He's never acted a day in his life," he said. "I said, 'I've got a great uncle with a great look and a great voice, and he has great property that we could use for filming.' We thought he might not be comfortable acting, but that he may be up for an adventure." Keate credits his uncle for being the best part of the ad, even after only a few hours of informal acting lessons. Kotter said, "It was an educational thing for me. I really enjoyed it. The most interesting thing was just learning how these things come together, how they're done. I'd never done anything like that before." On Jan. 3, 2011, the finalists of the contest will be announced, and the public will be able to vote for their favorites until the 30th. The reaction to the ad has already been very positive, said both Keate and Adair, with both strangers and friends voicing their praise. "It's fun to see that we've done something others will enjoy," Adair said. - ari.w.rees@aggiemail.usu.edu Rockin' around the Christmas trees USU officials renew their warning about the dangers of using Old Main Hill for sledding activities. Joe Dulin, USU risk officer, said he understands the lure and popularity of Old Main Hill. It is centrally located and has a longstanding tradition by students and community members for various winter activities. Nevertheless, speeding down a tree-lined hill without steering or braking mechanisms toward a busy city street is an accident waiting to happen. He said injuries have already occurred this year, including a student who suffered a serious spinal fracture after she flew off a handbuilt snow ramp and landed on her back. "The threat of serious injury is great, and for those who insist on using Old Main Hill for sledding do so at their own risk," Dulin said. "It troubles me greatly to learn of the numerous broken bones and injuries that occur each year on the hill. It is always a worry." Ceramics guild prepares for sale USU Ceramics Guild will hold its annual Holiday Sale Thursday, Dec. 9, through Saturday, Dec. 11, on the USU campus. The sale is held at the guild's home territory - the Ceramic Studio - in Fine Arts Visual, FAV 123, on the university campus. The sale kicks off Thursday, 59 p.m., and continues Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. "Avoid the chaos at the mall in favor of supporting local and independent artists and designers," said Jake Herbert, a USU ceramics student. "Shop for one-of-a-kind items for everyone on your gift-giving list and don't forget to include something uniquely hand made just for yourself." Patrons will have the opportunity to browse the wide range of both functional and decorative pottery, meet the artists and purchase affordable art. Cash and checks will be accepted. Proceeds raised from the holiday sale are used to promote education of the ceramic arts through the financial support of the USU Potter's Guild. Monies raised in previous USU guild initiatives have included the purchase of a clay mixer as well as helping to send students to the National Ceramics Conference. Office celebrates the year's grant success USU ORGANIZATIONS decorate trees that will be donated to less fortunate families this Christmas. Aggie Recyclers created ornaments made from recycled paper and organizations from USU Athletics to Macey's grocery store in Providence participated. BENJAMIN WOOD photo PoliceBlotter Saturday, Nov. 27 • USU Police responded to a fire alarm at Merrill Hall. A stove burner was left on with a tea pot on top of the burner. The tea pot became very hot and the plastic handle melted, which oozed onto the burner. • USU Police arrested an individual that had an outstanding warrant. The individual was transported to Cache County Jail to be booked on the warrant. Sunday, Nov. 28 • USU Police, Logan City Police and Animal Control responded to the Valley View Tower on a motorist assist. An individual who was visiting from California needed help getting snow chains on her tires. Police and Animal Control assisted in getting the snow chains on the tires. • USU Police informed several groups of individuals about the dangers of having a person on a snowboard while being towed by a vehicle in the snow. The individuals were warned and left the area. • USU Police and Logan City Police pushed a student's vehicle out of a snowbank. The roads were slick and snow-packed which caused the student to slide off the road. • USU Police investigated an accident where a USU snowplow hit a USU equipment trailer causing approximately $1,000 damage. • USU Police investigated a delayed report of a minor traffic accident that occurred in the Aggie Village Parking lot. Monday, Nov. 29 • USU Police took a report of phone harassment to a USU staff member. Police are investigating. • USU Police received a report of damage that occured to a vehicle while it was parked next to the Janet Quinney Lawson building. Snow slid off the building and damaged a vehicle parked near the building. The building does have warning signs stating this may occur. Tuesday, Nov. 30 • USU Police investigated a traffic accident in the parking lot of Lundstrom Hall involving a USU snowplow and another vehicle. Damage Contact USU Police at 797-1939 for non-emergencies. Anonymous reporting line: 797-5000 EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911 is estimated at $700. • USU Police responded to a fire alarm at Reeder Hall. Police arrived to find that a student was heating oil to fry chicken and the oil produced smoke in the apartment. The area was aired out and the alarm was reset. • USU Police was called to an Aggie Village parking lot because a vehicle was running with the lights on for several hours. The vehicle was turned off and the keys left inside the vehicle when the owner was not located. • USU Police responded to a minor traffic accident in the stadium parking lot. A vehicle attempting to pull into a parking stall hit a parked vehicle. Wednesday, Dec. 1 • USU Police responded to the Student Wellness Center on a leak in the ceiling. The leak was found to be coming from a building heater water pipe so and plumbers were called out to repair the leak. El Compiled by Catherine Meidell More than $80,000 in SEEDgrant funds were awarded this year to help faculty establish eight new study-abroad options and eight international curriculum programs, according to Mary Hubbard, vice provost for International Education in the Office of Global Engagement. Four faculty members served as a committee to work with the vice provost on the development and guidelines for the new USU SEED Grant Programs. "We had a good response, and I'm excited about the new international exposure that will result for our students both on and off campus," Hubbard said. The committee initially received 13 applications with requests totaling $86,708.50 for the Study Abroad grants, and 11 applications requesting a total of $61,812.50 for the Curriculum Development grants. The committee members made recommendations, and Hubbard coupled these recommendations with programmatic and strategic considerations before making final decisions on the funding. The result is an effort to provide opportunities in a variety of countries around the globe and for majors from all of the USU colleges. The team also considered regions where USU is working to establish a strategic presence. 11 Co mp ile d from staff and media reports |