Doritos’ “Locos” Advertising

In this Doritos advertisement, there is a couple getting an ultrasound for their soon-to-be-born baby. The appointment is going as normal until the pregnant woman realizes that her husband is eating Doritos in the room during the ultrasound. In response to this, she complains to the doctor: “See what I have to deal with‽” The three then look at the monitor to see that the baby is reaching out, presumably toward the Doritos. The inquisitive husband then proceeds to wave around a Dorito to see how the baby reacts. The wife does not think it is funny and so she takes the Dorito away and throws it across the room. The three then exchange looks as they all realize what is about to happen. The screen then pans to the wife as she yells as the baby jumps out of her in an attempt to get to the Dorito. While this ad mainly serves as a fun, goofy advert, there is a cultural norm being enforced that fathers can be inept and clueless.

The target audience of this advertisement is middle-class, teen and early 20s boys that enjoy silly humor such as that seen in the advertisement and want to start a family later in life. The ad is sending the message to this demographic that Doritos can bring them fun moments such as those seen in this advertisement.

This ad, while it may seem fun-loving and harmless, actually sends a bigger message about this demographic. This ad portrays the fatherhood of this demographic in a negative light by having him eat during the ultrasound and explaining how tough it is for the wife to handle the husband. This reinforces the stereotype that all fathers are clumsy and careless and so pushes us further into the cave by showing the father in the ad as a poor stereotype and denying the demographic of new dads to be seen as responsible parents whereas the mother is seen as the only one that cares about the child.