Writer from LI has skin in the Super Bowl ad game
Film maker Michael Doneger is one of 10 finalists in the "Crash the Super Bowl" contest by Doritos and Pepsi Max with his ad, "Elevator Girl." Doneger, who grew up in Hewlett and graduated from Lynbrook High School,now lives in Los Angeles. (Undated) Credit: Handout
A lot of people watching the Super Bowl on Sunday will be biting their nails as they root for the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers.
Michael Doneger, 24, will be biting his nails as well, but not about the outcome of the game.
Doneger, who grew up in Hewlett and graduated from Lynbrook High School before moving recently to Los Angeles, created a humorous ad that is one of 10 finalists - out of 5,600 submissions -- in the Doritos and Pepsi Max "Crash the Super Bowl" contest.
The 10 finalist ads are competing -- through Internet voting that was to end at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 -- to be one of six consumer-created commercials, three for Doritos and three for Pepsi Max, to be aired during Super Bowl XLV.
The results of the voting won't be released before game time.
Doneger has already won $25,000 and a trip to the Super Bowl in Dallas for his 30-second Pepsi Max spot, called "Elevator Girl." (Click here to view the 10 finalist ads visit crashthesuperbowl.com.)
In "Elevator Girl," in which Doneger and Jamie Zeluck, also formerly of Hewlett, star, a self-conscious guy tries to make conversation with a good-looking girl.
He finally offers her a Pepsi Max but fumbles, saying it's low in calories, leaving her to believe he thinks she's overweight. The whole ad cost $100 to make, Doneger said, mostly for the cinematographer. Doneger created and wrote the ad.
Last year Doneger made an ad for Doritos, but it didn't place. He thought he'd give it another shot. If "Elevator Girl" is chosen as one of the six winners, it will not only air to a national Super Bowl audience of millions, but will have a shot at big bucks: If the consumer-created ads sweep the top three rankings of the USA Today Ad Meter, their creators will take home a shared $5-million prize.
Doneger plans to enjoy his time at the Super Bowl, but the outcome of the ads will have him on the edge of his seat. "It's going to be nerve-racking," he said.
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