And we have a winner! 

Last month we featured an article about a Virginia Beach man that made it as a finalist in the Doritos Super Bowl ad contest with his hilarious "Man's Best Friend" commercial.  And today, that man, Jonathan Friedman is one million dollars richer. 

Oh, and let's not forget to mention or newest Hampton Roads celebrity, Huff the Great Dane.



The video should appear here.  If you are having difficulty viewing the video on this page, simply choose the following link and scroll down to this article.  Link:  Virginia Beach Man's Best Friend Super Bowl Ad

Article source:[pilotonline.com]

Doritos ad featuring Va. Beach's Huff the dog wins $1 million

By Cindy Clayton
Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot  February 6, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

The Doritos ad featuring Huff, the Virginia Beach Great Dane, was ranked as the most popular commercial during the Super Bowl and has won its creator a $1 million prize.

"The CEO of the division came into the suite and announced the news," said Matt Friedman, whose brother, Jonathan, created the commercial. "The next thing you know, everybody was pouring champagne on my brother's head."

"I didn't see that one coming," Jonathan Friedman said by phone this morning. "It was very cold."

The brothers were swept up in the celebration overnight, followed by interviews for Jonathan this morning. At some point, Jonathan Friedman said, they'll be able to get some sleep.

"It's pretty incredible," he said of the win.

"How can we thank a community for supporting us like this? Wow!," wrote Huff's owner, Betsy DiJulio in an email this morning to a Virginian-Pilot editor.

The win also was announced late Sunday in a news release from Frito-Lay North America. The USA Today panel ranked the ad No. 1 with 8.82 points, while ads for Volkswagen and Skechers ranked second and third with 8.73 and 8.57 points respectively. The No. 4 ad, another Doritos ad called "Sling Baby," received 8.48 points, according to the newspaper's website.

The commercial featuring Huff, called "Man's Best Friend," ranked No. 1 in USA TODAY's annual Super Bowl Ad Meter, the release says.

The win marks the third time in Super Bowl advertising history that a consumer-created Doritos commercial has topped the USA TODAY Ad Meter rankings, according to the company.

ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer called Betsy DiJulio this afternoon and they're going to have something about the commercial during tonight's news broadcast.

Anyone living near Betsy and Joe DiJulio might have heard screaming coming from their Virginia Beach house when an ad featuring their dog aired before halftime Sunday night.

"We were thrilled half to death," said Betsy DiJulio said. "I nearly fell down the stairs."

She said she had run upstairs to email Jonathan Friedman, the Virginia Beach graphic designer who created the winning advertisement, when someone called out that more ads were beginning to run.

Then everyone started screaming.

"I wish I could see Jonathan's face," she said.

As one of five finalists selected from more than 6,100 entries, Friedman already had won $25,000 and tickets to the game.

Friedman's spot features a man, played by Chesapeake resident Derek Leonidoff, who witnesses his dog covering up a crime in the backyard. Huff tries to win his owner's silence by bribing him with Doritos.

Huff's owners were thinking about having a big Super Bowl-watching party but decided against it because they didn't want to be disappointed if the commercial didn't air.

In the end, the 120-plus-pound Great Dane may have thought the smaller party at home with about 10 friends was enough.

"He's a little disconcerted by all the screaming," Betsy DiJulio said.

End of article.

Keep an eye out for Super Bowl weekend events happening at your favorite Hampton Roads new and used car dealer, Checkered Flag.