An Illuminating Brand Awareness Campaign

When Kap Media Group came to us looking for help with media production for this massively ambitious project, we knew it was going to take a lot of research, logistics, and lumens. Seeking to leverage social media and AR, they wanted to create a never-done-before phenomenon across multiple U.S. cities at the same time to generate buzz and earned media for Doritos. Clearly, we couldn’t resist.

The Challenge

This project presented a handful of challenges – first, we had to find triangle-shaped buildings or buildings with prominent triangular features. Then we had to work with multiple municipalities (plus building managers and sometimes owners) to get the necessary permits and permissions. On the technical side, the challenge was to figure out how to project the Doritos logo onto an illuminated chip and to locate enough high-powered projectors to make it all happen.

Strategy

Working alongside producer Robin Potash, we made site visits to each city to determine where the projections would need to come from, met and presented our concept in person to the stakeholders in each city. Next, we planned to use 3D rendering to aid in making adjustments to angle, position, and size since a test run wasn’t possible given the project’s scope and scale.

Design

The design phase involved selecting equipment, researching the different permits, laws, and regulations of each host city – Atlanta, New York, and Memphis – and working out contracts with not only the buildings that would become giant Doritos but also the properties that would be needed to house the equipment. Finally, we used 3D modeling to visualize the projections and tweak the design elements.

Production

Utilizing a total of 93 Elation Professional Proteus Maximus light fixtures across all three cities and staffed with three crews per site for the duration of each night we blasted a total of 4.65 million lumens into the night sky to bring the giant Doritos to life.