Every year on the first Sunday in February, Americans gather together to watch the Super Bowl. The best part? The commercials. In 2019 Doritos aired a commercial featuring Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott having a dance battle over a bag of cool ranch Doritos. Doritos uses Kairotic appeals and the opportunity of current trends in popular culture to appeal to their audience. There could have been no better time to use these celebrities in their commercial. In the background of the commercial you can hear Lil Nas X’s hit single “Old Town Road” playing. This single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-breaking 19 weeks. For an entire summer, no one could escape the song on the radio, in stores, and wherever else you hear music. This made it the perfect time to put Lil Nas X and his song in their commercial. Additionally, the music video for the song has a wild-west ranch theme which they utilize in this commercial as well. This explains the timeliness of having Sam Elliot in the commercial, as he is one of the stars of the popular Netflix original series “The Ranch,” which has been airing since 2016.

Doritos uses ethos via celebrity endorsement to persuade their audience to buy their product. They also use humor, with the dance battle, to appeal to their audience. This dance battle works very well with the current generation of more liberally-minded, TikTok-obsessed teenagers and young adults. Using Lil Nas X, Sam Elliot, or a dance battle to appeal to an audience in a previous generation, or even now when “Old Town Road” has finally left our heads, would not be nearly as effective. Though the call to action does not feel incredibly urgent, the commercial keeps the audience thinking about the brand and how Doritos would elevate their status. Personally, I am not one to be persuaded by celebrity endorsement, but I believe the jovial appeals to humor and the timely pop-culture references would be compelling for the intended audience.