By Bill Parry
A professional actor and dancer from Astoria has a shot at fame and a million dollars, but he’s going to need your vote.
When Alex Pepper, 25, watched last year’s Super Bowl, he noticed something was different about his favorite part of the broadcast — the commercials.
“I saw that some were made by consumers,” Pepper said. “I did some research on social media, like Facebook, and found out about this contest.”
He entered a homemade commercial spot called “What Could Go Wrong” in the nine-year-old Doritos Crash the Super Bowl Contest. His 30-second spot was one of 10 finalists selected from nearly 4,900 submissions from 29 countries.
The grand prize winner takes home $1 million and a dream job, for one year at Universal Pictures. Pepper believes he has an edge because he’s the only finalist from New York City.
“This is all done by online voting so New Yorkers have until Jan. 28 to vote once per day on each device, on your computer and your cell phone,” he said.
The top two winning commercial spots will air during the big game Feb. 1.
“They’re flying all of us to Arizona to watch the game from a luxury box on the 30-yard line,” Pepper said. “When you see your commercial on the air, then you’ll know you’ve won. It will be hard to watch the game knowing my life can change at any given moment.”
Pepper shot his commercial on the rooftop of his apartment building off 30th Avenue in Astoria, where he has lived for the last 2 1/2 years. The production had a budget of just $80 and he used a point-and-shoot DSLR camera and edited with his laptop computer.
The commercial features Pepper and a love interest dancing on the roof top. While lifting his partner into the air, “Dirty Dancing” style, Pepper slips on a bag of Doritos, sending her flying off the rooftop.
“As a male dancer, it’s one of my worst fears: to drop your partner,” Pepper said. “I incorporated that nightmare of mine into the commercial as the payoff.”
Pepper recently returned to Astoria following a national tour of “South Pacific.” The next time he returns to Astoria, from his trip to the Super Bowl, he might be a millionaire.
But he’ll need some help.
“Just go to Doritos.com and vote,” he said. “Vote for Alex Pepper.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
