Forest company takes issue with B.C. entry in Super Bowl commercial contest

A commercial produced by two men from Maple Ridge is one of the finalists in a contest put on by Doritos. The winner airs during the next Super Bowl.

But now one of Canada’s biggest forest companies, Canfor, has taken issue with the ad and the similarities between the Doritos one and an ad produced for them last year.

In the ad produced for the Doritos contest, two men use the chips to catch a mermaid, which then ends up mounted on their wall. In the Canfor video, which was produced to recruit a younger demographic to the growing company, a man makes a wish when a ladybug lands on him and also ends up with a mermaid.

The same actor also appears in both videos.

“There is a number of quite startling similarities from the actor, to a number of elements within the videos that are very very similar,” says Laura Ballance, Canfor spokesperson.

Graham and Nelson Talbot, who produced the Superbowl contest entry, say it is just a coincidence they hired the same actor.

The Doritos entry:

What concerns Canfor is the company is getting calls from customers and corporate clients suggesting because of the video similarities, Canfor must be part of the Doritos contest, which they not.

Those same clients who think there is a connection are voicing disapproval of a commercial that ends with a mermaid mounted over a fireplace.

“Canfor is making the point that we were not involved in this and didn’t intend for any content or intellectual property to be used in this type of contest,” says Ballance.

Canfor’s ad:

The Talbot brothers are still waiting to see if their ad will be a contest winner and air on Super Bowl Sunday.

“The concept of the commercial is ours,” says Nelson. “And it’s completely different from theirs, if you just watched it, you could tell.”