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SALT LAKE CITY — With any luck at all, some Utah guys and a bunch of animals from Hogle Zoo could wind up with a starring role in the next Super bowl. It's all about Noah's ark, computer trickery and a whole lot of Doritos.
Their idea of going to the zoo and shooting an ad took root a year ago. That's when one of T.J. Packer's kids asked him how Noah got all those animals onto the ark.
"I jokingly said, ‘Well, I think Noah used Doritos to get animals on the ark.' And from there the idea kind of spawned," Packer said.
His mind was reeling, but he lacked one thing to get it off the ground: a "Noah."
VIDEO:
Doritos: Noah's last chip
Noah gets "heavenly" help getting the animals on the ark. Click on the link to watch the video and vote."He had an idea, I have a beard," said Glenn Tenny, who plays Noah in the commercial.
The ad shows Tenny offering Doritos to all different types of animals, coaxing them to get on board the ark. But did he really take all those chances, feeding chips to animals that might just as well have him for lunch? Nope, it's computer magic taking the animals out of their environment.
The big animals were shot at the zoo. Noah did his bits on location, with careful attention to the angle of the sun. "That the lighting would match," Packer explained.
"Here you see the before, with the lighting on the elephant," he said, showing KSL News a video clip. "Here's the same lighting on Noah, and then we were able to put them together. It works seamlessly. We're also able to paint out the houses and cars in the background."
Jason Knapp and Abraham Sloan helped refine the idea into 30 seconds of fun.
"It's cute, and it brings a smile to your face," Tenney said. "And if that's all we get in life, is one of those a day, I think we'll live a whole lot longer."
"The punch line is fantastic," Packer said. "At the very end, it answers one of life's great mysteries of what happened to one of our favorite animals."
To see the punch line for yourself, check out the video on the Doritos Facebook page. There, you'll also be able to see other commercials submitted for the contest and vote for your favorite.
The winner will be shown during the 2013 Super Bowl, and its creators might win $1 million.
