Of course there came the YouTube videos about the sampling of the colors... so what did they taste like? And then there was the website Heathledger.com, who 'quoted' Frito-Lay spokesperson Claudia Rosales: "We've learned that hunger comes in all shapes, sizes and sexual orientations. Companies looking to gain an edge in emerging markets would be ignorant not to design or market products specifically to the gayest Americans." The new gay flavors hitting shelves include Qrispy Quiche, Late Night Dance Party, and something only referred to as Smooth. Rosales forsaw a future where other Frito-Lay products would be equally 'out.' "Gay Lays are right around the corner."

In 2015 Doritos launched their most LGBT friendly campaign ever, when they introduced their “Rainbows”, as part of the brand’s partnership with It Gets Better (the charity about saving young people from depression and suicide by giving them resources to survive living in homophobic families and communities), using the the hashtag #BOLDANDBETTER. It was not really the whole rainbow: the mini-Doritos came in a mix of five colors: red, a merged orange & yellow, green, blue and purple. The crisps were only available via a $10 donation to It Gets Better, and were not available in shops – but after the campaign went viral online they quickly sold out. 

Introduction

Doritos is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. Doritos - and some of its sister brands - have gained notoriety for its marketing campaigns, including many ads aired during the Super Bowl. They participate in Marketing The Rainbow, but not always in a positive way. Their love-hate relationship with the LGBT community was shown in a number of gay tease commercials, where gays were used to make fun of. In some cases that 'fun' even turned homophobic. The annual contest Crush The Super Bowl always spawned a number of similarly themes clips. This is user generated content, and has not always been used by the brand - but it shows a trend. 

Read my case study on Pepsi here. 

In 2002, Pepsico’s Doritos released such a “gay tease” commercial with Enrique Iglesias, where the singer appeared to be falling in love with a man in his audience. The viewers quickly learn that Iglesias is after the man’s bag of chips.

In 2003, sister brands Pepsi/Lay’s released a satirical commercial showing four men watching football on TV. They make concerted efforts not to touch one another – immediately pulling their knees back when they touch and recoil when their hands reach for the same soda bottle. When their team scores a touchdown, the men are rolling all over the couch and hugging. Obviously, this ad, like the Doritos one, was not aimed at gays, but used a gay theme for ‘fun’. That approach can also have a backlash.

The first steps: gay tease

More "fun"... and homophobia?

Another negative response was received for an alleged homophobic video clip for Doritos in Brazil in 2009, where it was making the rounds on gay blogs. In it, four friends are riding in a car, when one of them suddenly starts 'dancing' to YMCA. A bag of Doritos covers the guy's face and a slogan says "Wanna share something with your friends? Share a bag of Doritos." While the whole thing may seem harmless, gay rights groups claimed that the commercial discriminated against gay men by suggesting that acting gay or coming out to your friends is not appropriate. Gay rights group ABGLT filed a formal complaint asking for the Doritos commercial to be banned from television.

Super Bowl 2009

For the contest in 2009 an Adam and Eve commercial was made (done many times) called "What's Your Flavor?", in which Adam chooses a chubby guy with Doritos over hot Eve. In a variation to that commercial, Adam just prefers the Doritos over Eve’s seducing apple. This commercial, made by Vision Film & Television Production, was not chosen as the winner.

Told You So

In 2011 they released the “Told you so” ad - or did they? The commercial was shot by director John Kenney for the Super Bowl contest. Again, it didn't get chosen but it got a great response virally, being mentioned on Perez Hilton and the View.

Role reversal

A real commercial from 2011, Photo Shoot, is about role reversal: three female models strut seductively from behind a light blue curtain, wearing black, blue, and magenta undergarments. The shot is abruptly cut off by a Doritos crunching male crewmember. One of the models says “Excuse me… we’re working here.” To which he responds, “I could do your job.” The commercial then cuts to the three male crewmembers, strutting their stuff, clad in the same undergarments; bras included. Again the speaker is cut off: the female models behind the camera, in ostensibly male work attire, are munching... Doritos. They chime in with various criticisms, to which one male crewmember asks to switch roles. The models reject his request.

Super Bowl 2013

In 2013, Doritos presented "Fashionista Daddy” during the Super Bowl - the winner of that year's contest. The ad starts with a young girl dressed in a princess costume asking her father to play dress-up with her. The father is apprehensive, but is seduced by - surprise - a bag of Doritos. And then his friends show up. Repeat the sequence. The commercial was named by CBS as one of the 10 best Super Bowl commercials ever. It was the highest-ranking Doritos ad on the USA Today Ad Meter, finishing at 4.

Fun fact: the creator of this winning ad, 29-year-old Mark Freiburger of Los Angeles, got the opportunity to work with film director Michael Bay on the “Transformers” movie franchise.

That same year the video Noodling saw the light of day, one of the many fan-made Doritos commercials, in which a fisherman attracts a merman instead of the desired mermaid. As a matter a fact, a few more mermaid themed clips were made - although the connection to chips eludes me (not for the first time).

The bags featured inspirational quotes on the outside.

The campaign got huge coverage in the media. Without fail, it also led to controversies: from the one side Frito-Lay were accused of gaywashing. Eco-website Natural News reported: “It doesn't get better: it gets worse. Rainbow Doritos is the latest absurd example of corporate #gaywashing. Frito-Lay trying to feed obese lesbians GMO snack chips laced with MSG and artificial colors”. Other people pointed out that Doritos was still responsible for unethical behavior like using palm oil and destroying the rainforest, and – of course – the conservatives indignantly declared they would never eat a Dorito again.

Rolling Stone said : "the bag of Doritos has bigots foaming at the mouth" - and they named a few examples.

• "Doritos are a product marketed to children, so they make the perfect gateway snack to introduce children to the joys of homosexuality," wrote Ed Straker of the ironically named American Thinker website. Straker even classified the different colored Doritos – "green are homosexual, the pink are lesbian".
• "What's next, rainbow Cheerios? Maybe the Doritos fag bags come with a toy dildo?" writes one thoughtful gentleman.
• "I'm sick of the liberal left shoving godlessness and immorality down our throats," tweets another.
• "Here's something that you don't want to think about while snacking on your chips," Bethany Blankley of Charisma News writes. "Left out in nearly all discussions about homosexuality is the reality that sex often infects people with E. coli bacterial infections, spreads sexually transmitted diseases and can cause anal cavity bleeding and rupturing." [remember, we are talking about rainbow support to an anti-suicide hotline]
• John Nolte of Breitbart News wrote an explosive column, calling It Gets Better's Dan Savage an "infamous anti-Christian bully and bigot" because of his reputation for irreverent mockery of homophobic politicians.

The best gift

Doritos Mexico continued their campaign for the 2020 holiday season with a touching video based on a true story. The tagline was 'the best gift you can give this Christmas is to accept someone as they are'. It raked up over 14 million views on YouTube in the first two weeks. The (LGBT) press was raving. Attitude said: "Doritos' new ad shows a dad embracing his gay son's relationship and it's Oh So Emotional. Can we get a movie-length version?" There were many who said "I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying." The beautiful video is about a divorced father addressing his son’s sexuality. 

Super Bowl 2011

Another "gay vague" commercial: this ad was a "Crash the Super Bowl" finalist, part of a consumer generated ads campaign overseen by the ad agency.

In the same year we saw a contribution with a gay theme, set in a sauna. Two men, sitting inappropriately close to another, seem to be getting intimate. Again, of course, this concerned the bag of Doritos that one, naturally, takes into a sauna. Crispy!

The campaign was repeated in Mexico in 2016 and Brazil in 2017. Cheers to the Rainbows!

Super Bowl 2014

The video Finger Cleaner was a "Crash the Super Bowl" finalist in 2014, part of a consumer generated ads campaign overseen by the ad agency. The subtext to this ad covertly references a glory hole.

2016: Go Bold!

The diminutive and gay comedian Leslie Jordan ("Will & Grace") walks in for a commercial try-out but feels out of place among tall male models. Speaking on the phone, he looks at the competition and announces, “Oh, twins! Well, maybe I will stay.”

Selected for the commercial, Jordan is now surrounded by two beautiful women feeding him Doritos and two hunky models behind him, everyone in swimsuits. The flamboyant director repeatedly tells Jordan to “Go bold!” Out of other moves, Jordan decides to drop his swim shorts, to everyone’s dismay. In the closing, the director concludes darkly, “Too bold.”

Super Bowl 2020

Of course, Doritos joined the Super Bowl 2020 group of advertisers, and of course they had an LGBT theme in their commercial. In a dance-off (to win a bag of Doritos Cool Ranch) gay rapper Lil Nas X challenges Sam Elliot. With the help of his horse, guess who wins. Before the event, a 30-second teaser was released with the title "Bassquake", in which the cowboy rides into town. 

Just six years after the first LGBT representation in the biggest advertising event of the year, this was one of at least 10 commercials featuring LGBT characters. We have come a long way, helped no doubt by the SCOTUS decision to allow same-sex marriage in 2015.

The spot shows how he asks for help on Reddit to find out an appropriate way to talk to his son about it.

“I am a 52-year-old divorced father and I need help,” he says. “My son and his friend are a couple and do not dare to tell me.” Spoiler alert: there is a happy ending!

Doritos Rainbow has been supporting the LGBT+ community since 2016, and the company recently started a #PrideAllYear campaign allowing the public to post their own stories.

“We’re really proud of the accomplishments that have been achieved with Doritos Rainbow.” Eduardo Córdoba, marketing director at Doritos Mexico, said. “We believe the moment is right to show that our commitment extends beyond a proud celebration every June.”

Conclusion

In spite of a false start, with a number of - often user generated - stories that had gay tease themes in them (not always politically correct), Doritos made a solid commitment to the community with their Rainbow platform. The PrideAllYear campaign builds on this concept and is continued this year. 

This article was last updated Jan 31, 2022

1 million kisses

In the same year, they partnered with the Foundation Cuenta Conmigo ("Take me into account") in Mexico. A virtual chain of kisses was created, where Doritos donated 1 peso for each kiss. The result was "1 million de besos = 1 millon de pesos": in other words, a million kisses raised $50,000. (somewhat strange was the use of a 7-colored rainbow, though)

International Drag Queen Day

Another remarkable contribution from S America: for "Dia internacional da Drag Queen" the Brazilian operation released a beautiful video of support. "Their bodies are art, a show of colors and liveliness that enchants. Celebrating International Drag Queen Day, we invited the indigenous biologist, educator and visual artist Uýra Sodoma to tell us about the link between her expression and worldview. 🌈✨" Within days, the clip garnered more than 1 million views.

Also known as Uýra, the Tree that Walks, the artist drew attention for traveling through river communities in the Amazon raising awareness through the character, who won the Manaus edition of the drag queen contest Rival Rebolado, in 2017. Bringing together environmental struggles and LGBT+, she is currently performing in Europe, in artist residency in Austria in the project “Resurgences of Amazonia!” and performances at the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, in Italy.

Rainbows!

2021 Day of the Dead

Keeping their promise of #PrideAllYear, Doritos Mexico released another viral video for "Day of the Dead" in 2021:

Nunca Es Tarde Para Ser Quien Eres (It's never too late to be who you are). A remarkable, animated story about a family visiting the graveyard - which is customary for Día de Muertos, Nov 2 - who see the ghost of Uncle Alberto and his afterlife lover Mario garnered some 15 million views in a week - even more than "The Best Gift".

There was a whole bunch of commotion from both LGBT+ (why wait until you are dead before coming out) and bigots with racy word jokes and the old "Get woke, go broke" comment, as well as people who think marketing and communication should always be about the product itself - quoting a popular blogger with "Doritos?" and forgetting about branding, loading a brand (value).

The Advocate: "While some have praised the commercial for connecting queer identities to cultural traditions, others have commented that there is a mixed message of only being one's true, queer self in death." Doritos Mexico responded by stating the commercial is part of its #ProudAllYear platform, which celebrates and promotes respect and support for diversity: “In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is a celebration of life. It's a moment to share our respect, love, and unity for all the people we cherish, even if they are gone. And it’s an opportunity for us to celebrate love and our commitment to the LGBT+ community every day. With the commercial ‘It’s never late to be who you are,’ we want to say that it's never too late to share your true self, and when you are ready, we will support you.”

Another display of diversity - and controversy - was found in Israel, where Doritos faced boycott calls from some conservative religious Israeli Jews after releasing an advertisement featuring gay and lesbian couples. The ad was posted ahead of Family Day (Yom HaMishpacha), and begins by showing members of Israeli families, as a narrator says family is not something one chooses. “But there are some families that do choose to be families. There are families created by the complex reality,” the narrator says, as the screen shows a pair of women with two babies and a young girl, and two men with a toddler. Despite the pushback Doritos did not plan to remove or change the ad: “We respect all views, beliefs and the diversity of Israeli society and have no intention to harm any group.”

Family Day, Isreal 2022