It's estimated that about 111.9 million people watched the 2016 Super Bowl, and it's estimated that this year's viewers will reach right around these numbers. Super Bowl Sunday is a day dedicated to football, finger food, and plenty of drinks (if you're over the age of 21 of course). Throughout the years, many companies have stressed the idea of staying away from a car if you've been drinking. Budweiser has been leading the anti-drinking and driving campaign for the last two years, first with the commercial featuring the golden retriever waiting for his owner to come home and then with Helen Mirren calling out individuals who drink and drive. It seems as if public service announcement commercials with a twist of humor or puppies are intensely popular among Super Bowl viewers, but this year Doritos is rolling out an ad campaign that might just beat past years' frontrunners.
Tostitos, the company behind Doritos, has introduced a brand new chip bag for 2017's Super Bowl LI, dubbed the "Party Safe" bag. The bag not only comes with the delicious snack you intended to binge when you bought them, but also includes a built in breathalyzer to remind you that maybe grabbing your keys and attempting to drive home after a few beers is not a great idea. Better yet, the bag also comes equipped with a near field communication, or NFC, chip that you can tap against your phone to immediately send an Uber to your location to bring you home. As an added bonus, Uber gives all customers who request a ride during and after the Super Bowl $10 off their ride. Tostitos and Uber may have just nailed the partnership of the year. We can assume that a large chunk of the 28 million pounds of potato chips that are consumed during the Super Bowl are Doritos; let's say one quarter of them, so 7 million pounds. In turn, if only 1/7 of those Doritos consumers use an Uber as well, Uber still has 1 million people requesting rides across the country.
The product sold by Tostitos has had a plethora of mixed reviews in the media. Many people see the bag as a great way to prevent drinking and driving, especially for people reciting the famous last words, "I've only had one beer, I can definitely drive." On the other hand, critics think that if you're drunk enough to blow into a chip bag to find out if, in fact, you are drunk, you may just want to give the keys to someone else and sleep it off. Whatever your opinion of the bag is, we can all admit it's an innovative safety method and we can expect to see more related inventions in the coming years.
Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! Stay safe and, if you're drinking, stay off the roads. More about the "Party Safe" bag can be found at this link.
