Last February, two unemployed brothers from Illinois made an amateur Doritos TV commercial and scored the top spot in USA Today’s Super Bowl 2009 Ad Meter.

Last Sunday, as the culmination of their Crash the Super Bowl contest, Doritos aired four more consumer-generated spots. “Casket”, which features a man pretending to be dead so that he could be buried with a casket full of chips. “House Rules”, where a little boy puts the smack down on his mother’s date. “Snack Attack Samurai”, that shows what happens when you steal a bag from a Doritos’ fanatic. And “Underdog”, the spot below, where a dog has its proverbial day at the expense of a man who refuses to share his bounty.

After the results of this year’s Super Bowl Ad Meter were tallied, the Betty White Snickers spot came in first. “Underdog” second. However, Joshua Svoboda, was awarded a $600,000 prize for his efforts (per contest rules). Not bad considering his commercial only took $200 to make.

Predictably, articles were written saying that ad agencies should be afraid. There were those who suggested that the everyday Joe (or Jane) with a camcorder, computer and idea could produce a TV spot that’s just as effective as one made by the traditional Madison Avenue agency. Along with that argument is that brands would be able to save marketing dollars if they choose to run with amateur productions.

But here’s the truth about consumer-generated ads- those amateurs aren’t always amateurs. Turns out Joshua is actually a creative director of sorts. And in an article looking back at past winners of consumer-generated advertising contests, it appears that a fair number have ties to the industry. Apparently, creative professionals are consumers too. (Heck, two of us here at B.G. put together a :12 TV spot for Mountain Dew.)

A few years ago, the New York Times reported that free ads still come with a high price tag. Agencies and brand marketers spend months planning their consumer-generated contests- hiring lawyers to vet them and designing advertisements to promote them. People then have to spend countless hours wading through entries.

Whether or not they are truly effective may still be up for debate. But one thing that can be said in favor of consumer-generated ads is that agencies and brands get sent a ton of new ideas. And as long as those ideas may potentially be made real, we’ll keep our camcorders ready… and the idea fountain flowing.

In the most basic of terms, copywriters write copy. The persuasive prose that adorns all things advertising. Yes, we do spend countless hours on coming up with the big idea and executing all the necessary tasks to bring that idea to life. I will talk about that in another post, but for now I’m focusing on the written word.

Over the years, I’ve written a variety of TV commercials, radio spots, print ads, outdoor boards, taglines, website ideas, banner ads, e-blasts, brochures, corporate videos, infomercials, sponsorship voiceovers, posters, post cards, invitations, window clings, airport dioramas, segway decals, street team shirts, coffee sleeves, etc., et-friggin’-cetera, for a wide range of clients. From a national bank and a freight rail company, to most recently at Bailey Gardiner, a new landing page for San Diego Hospice and the banner ad below for Rockrose – an eco-savvy community built by Brookfield Homes.

Thinking back about all these different projects got me thinking about a couple of – how shall I say – “choice” assignments. Ones that have stuck with me long after the final word was typed. In no particular order, here are some random assignments I have had as a copywriter:

- For a mattress company, literature on dust mites and why you should flip your bed. These little creatures feast on your dead skin cells. And their fecal matter can be strongly allergenic. Don’t let the bed bugs bite, indeed.

- On hold messaging. Which is what you hear when you call a company’s main business line and get put on hold. I believe my copy was accompanied by a fine muzak track.

- A “Certificate of Achievement”. One of my former agencies framed a cheesy, mocked-up, award for a cricket-playing client that helped his club team win a regional tournament. Yep, you read that right. And yours truly got the call to fill in the part after, “In recognition of…”

- For a new business card, a phrase that creatively conveyed the title of copywriter. This was actually a fun one. In a supposed attempt to show how creative we were, everyone at my old agency was asked to rewrite their traditional titles. After a week of coming up with options like, “Big Idea Hunter”, “Word Slinger”, “Thinking Machine” and “Ad Jedi“, the project was scrapped by management for being too flippant. Boo.

As you can see, copywriting isn’t all coupons and brochure copy. But it isn’t exactly an ongoing Super Bowl commercial either.

So our holiday caroling video was a bit of a hit. Feedback has been good for our purposely “bad” execution.

When I first presented the idea of all of us butchering a song, there was a lot of nervous laughter in the room. Everyone at Bailey Gardiner seemed to think it was funny. But an important question remained. Would we all be willing to make asses out of ourselves? Well… clearly that was well within our skill set.

Nothing teaches like the act of doing. And in the course of filming, I learned a few things. I learned that…

- Sticking a camcorder in front of someone can severely limit motor skills.

- Some of us can actually sing (Katy and Jason). Yo, Susan Boyle- watch your back.

- Exiting a bathroom stall – while singing and eating a candy cane – wasn’t nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Perhaps bathroom humor is best left to the experts.

Without much further ado, here’s a short clip of outtakes and bloopers, as well as the original, just in case you missed it. Enjoy.

Yes, sex sells. But when you already have a cool product, you can leave the bom-chicka-wah-wah to body sprays.

The bike industry has never shied away from suggestiveness. At the last industry trade show, one company tried to use a pair of blonds in a soapy scrub down for their promotional poster. And it’s a trend that’s not only going on in America; it’s been covered on a blog about Eurobike.

One bike manufacturer, Titus, has a history of pushing the envelope– from ads that “arouse” to a campaign that was actually rejected by a mountain bike magazine.

But Titus didn’t always go the T&A route. They once ran a campaign illustrating what riders would do just to be able to afford one of their pricey bikes. Ads featured men who were willing to disappoint college-bound sons, horse-riding daughters and diamond-wearing fiancés. Still fun, but rooted in truth– that Titus riders covet their bikes.

My favorite campaign was what Cannondale did a few years back. Print ad below. So simple, yet insightful. Plus, something that mountain bikers totally got. Other ads featured dirty contact lenses and a dirty Q-tip.

I’d like to think that bike enthusiasts would still respond to advertising that cleverly conveys something unique about the product. Like this new ad for a folding bicycle. I’d like to think that sales and rentals jumped up for a Utah bike center after they ran an ad depicting an ideal world for bikers.

Bikes have colorful histories, passionate owners and are tied to lives lived outdoors. Each company has its own story. With different types of bikes, come different insights. Bikes are, for lack of a better word, sexy already. Brands don’t have to play to the male libido. When you think about it, a bike just might be the best thing a person can hop on and ride… that is, of course, other than another person.

After living with my new iPhone 3GS for two-and-a-half weeks, I wasn’t exactly impressed. I mean it came with the prepackaged hype of all things new and shiny. But after the novelty of the touch screen wore off, I realized it really didn’t blow my wig off.

That all changed last weekend when our account director tipped me off to the Augmented Reality feature hidden in Yelp’s latest app. (Cue nerdy, tech angels singing.) Coolest. Thing. Ever.

Not gonna run though the steps to activate it – that’s already been explained the world wide web over. The gist of how the app works: the video camera in your iPhone 3GS turns on, and as you pan across the horizon, you’ll find Yelp listings of different businesses. Even if you’re indoors, listings for bars and restaurants will pop up when you point your phone to where they’re actually located. I tried it here at the agency discovered a highly-reviewed Japanese restaurant that serves some mighty tasty yakitori.

When we first blogged about Augmented Reality, it seemed like practical usage was only in Europe. Apps for people looking to buy real estate in the Netherlands. Or Brits looking to find the nearest London subway station. For those of us stateside, A.R. was scheduled to make a big splash among iPhone 3GS users once Apple releases OS 3.1.

While we marvel at this new technology, A.R. is feverishly being developed. Expect it to change the way we shop online. How we look at maps. And how we play video games.

Who knows what reality will be like the more science augments it. For now though, I’m more than happy with my grilled chicken skewers.