DOORDASH ALL THE ADS
DoorDash needed to expand its brand perception beyond restaurant delivery to "Your Door to More" for Super Bowl viewers. The client sought a campaign to dramatically showcase its ability to deliver anything, generate significant buzz, and drive high consumer engagement.
Creative Idea
DoorDash delivered every Super Bowl ad's product to one winner via a code-cracking contest.
DoorDash proved its "Your Door to More" platform by turning every Super Bowl ad into a single, epic delivery for one lucky winner, generating unprecedented real-time engagement and conversation around a complex, interactive promo code challenge.
Cracking a 1813 Character Code for a 30 Pound Bucket of Mayo
The 11.9 Billion Impression Hack
DoorDash effectively hijacked the multi - million dollar spends of 76 other brands by promising to deliver every product advertised during the game to a single winner. This "piggybacking" strategy resulted in 11.9 billion earned impressions and 8 million sweepstakes entries. Beyond the buzz, the campaign drove a 21% year - over - year increase in grocery orders by May 2024, successfully repositioning the brand from a food delivery app to a "delivery for anything" platform.
A War Room for Real Time Chaos
Directed by Mike Diva and narrated by Laurence Fishburne, the production required a high - stakes "war room" at Wieden+Kennedy Portland. Because the prize pool depended on live broadcast reveals, Modern Logic utilized a fully 3D execution for the promo code ribbon. This allowed the team to manually add items to the prize cart and update the VFX assets in real - time as surprise ads aired. The final haul consisted of 2,468 items valued at roughly $480,000, including a BMW, a 1-carat lab-grown diamond, and a 30-pound bucket of mayonnaise that became a viral social media meme.
The 40 Minute Code Crack
The centerpiece of the activation was a staggering 1,813-character promo code displayed as a fast - moving 3D ribbon. While the team expected the challenge to last longer, the internet "cracked the code" in under 40 minutes. The engagement was so intense that many viewers reported missing the final minutes of the actual football game while transcribing the text. CMO Kofi Amoo-Gottfried noted that the project was designed to prove the brand's "Your Door to More" promise through "ludicrous ambition."
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
DoorDash possessed the logistical network and brand ambition to deliver an unprecedented variety of items, far beyond typical restaurant fare.
Category
Super Bowl advertising typically features brands showcasing individual products with high-production value, competing for viewer attention in isolation.
Customer
The audience craved interactive, real-time engagement during the Super Bowl, enjoying challenges and the thrill of a massive, unique prize.
Culture
The Super Bowl is a premier cultural event, a shared national experience where advertising itself becomes a major talking point and spectacle.
Company
DoorDash possessed the logistical network and brand ambition to deliver an unprecedented variety of items, far beyond typical restaurant fare.
Category
Super Bowl advertising typically features brands showcasing individual products with high-production value, competing for viewer attention in isolation.
Strategy:
Leverage a major cultural moment to demonstrate brand capability through an engaging, interactive challenge.
Customer
The audience craved interactive, real-time engagement during the Super Bowl, enjoying challenges and the thrill of a massive, unique prize.
Culture
The Super Bowl is a premier cultural event, a shared national experience where advertising itself becomes a major talking point and spectacle.
Strategy:
Leverage a major cultural moment to demonstrate brand capability through an engaging, interactive challenge.
Results
The campaign achieved 11.9 billion impressions, garnered 8 million submissions, generated 111.7 million influencer video views, and earned 258 million social impressions. It resulted in a +457% engagement volume across social media. One winner, Jonathan H. from San Antonio, TX, received 2,468 items worth $480,000, including a Bass Pro Shops boat and 60 Mtn Dew Baja Blasts.
11.9B
impressions
8M
submissions
+457%
engagement volume
Strategy Technique
Hijack a Moment
DoorDash strategically leveraged the Super Bowl's massive, engaged audience and its advertising spectacle. By integrating directly into the broadcast's ad breaks, they captured peak cultural attention.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Hijack the Medium
The campaign ingeniously transformed every Super Bowl commercial into a DoorDash advertisement, making the entire broadcast a showcase for their expanded delivery capabilities. It turned competitor ads into their own product demonstration.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's exceptional craft lies in its ingenious real-time digital execution that transformed the Super Bowl advertising landscape into an interactive scavenger hunt, driven by masterful media strategy and engaging social storytelling.
The real-time 'Ads To Cart' interactive system, complex promo code deciphering mechanism, and robust platform for managing millions of submissions demonstrate highly advanced digital execution.
The innovative strategy of leveraging every other Super Bowl ad as campaign content, amplified by real-time social engagement and influencer integration, created an unprecedented media landscape for interaction.
The witty and reactive social media commentary, engaging influencer scripts, and the cleverly integrated long-form promo code were crucial in driving virality and user participation.
The consistent visual language of the 'Ads To Cart' system, including product overlays, shopping cart icons, and branded digital assets, effectively guided user interaction across diverse platforms.
The campaign's magic stemmed from the seamless integration of a groundbreaking media strategy with real-time digital innovation, all communicated through sharp copywriting and cohesive visual design.
