COS Alumnus Finalist in Super Bowl Ad Contest

Brian Kleinschmidt

The real winner of the Super Bowl could be a Nicholson School of Communication alumnus.

A 30-second ad by Brian Kleinschmidt, ’04, a graduate of the radio-television program, is a top 10 finalist in the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl Contest. The annual contest gives consumers the opportunity to create a promotional ad for Doritos that will air during the Super Bowl.

To win the contest, Kleinschmidt’s ad needs to receive the most votes from the public. Although both the first-place and grand-prize winners will see their ad during the Super Bowl, only the grand prize winner will receive the top prize – $1 million and a dream job with Universal Pictures. The dream job will entail working on a future Marvel movie in whatever way the winner chooses, be it contributing to the script, assisting in the editing of the film or even acting in it.

Kleinschmidt’s ad, titled “Mis-Spelling Bee,” depicts two students vying for the prize in a spelling bee. But they aren’t vying for first place; rather, they are purposely trying to lose the contest in order to take home the second-prize, which is a lifetime supply of Doritos. The concept of the video is based on Kleinschmidt’s real-life experience.

“Back in high school, I used to do the morning show and I had so much fun doing it,” Kleinschmidt said. “I used to do this game show and everyone would try to lose and go for whatever the second-place prize was.”

The students featured in the ad are actually former students of Kleinschmidt’s mom, who is a music teacher in Tampa. Both Kleinschmidt and his mom can be heard as the announcers in the ad, while Kleinschmidt’s dad, Kevin, plays the role of the judge.

The video was put together with just $500, the stage from a local community theater and the skills Kleinschmidt acquired as an R-TV student.

After he graduated from NSC, Kleinschmidt felt pulled in the direction of marketing, and ended up working in sports marketing for a while. He currently owns three Anytime Fitness gyms in Tampa, but when he heard about the Crash the Super Bowl Contest, his mind for marketing was sparked once again.

“I still have that creativity. I still love doing that,” Kleinschmidt said. “What a great opportunity to give an amateur like me the world as a stage.”

The world really was a stage for Kleinschmidt back in 2009, when he embarked on a global journey as a contestant on season 15 of “The Amazing Race.” His teammate was his then-wife, Ericka Dunlap, who is Miss America 2004 and an alumna of the Nicholson School. He said that he doesn’t chase after experiences such as these; he goes along with what life brings his way.

“I put my sails up and see where the wind takes me – that’s how I live my life,” Kleinschmidt said. “I don’t have anything planned to the tee.”

Although Kleinschmidt didn’t win “The Amazing Race,” he is hoping to be victorious this time around. He and the other finalists will find out who won the contest along with the other Super Bowl viewers. As a finalist, he will get to attend the Super Bowl and will watch the game from the Doritos suite with the other grand-prize hopefuls.

To view the Mis-Spelling Bee ad and to cast a vote for Kleinschmidt, visit www.vote4misspellingbee.com. Votes can be cast once per day until Jan. 28.

To view the original article from NSC please click here.