The Best SuperBowl Ad wasn't made by an agency

Joe and Dave Herbert, of Batesville, Indiana didn't play in the SuperBowl this Sunday... but they were the day's big winners. The pair, along with three other brothers, run a video production site and together they entered and won the Doritos Crash The Super Bowl contest.

The contest invited consumers to submit their own commercial for Doritos. The best one (as voted by visitors on the promotional site) would be aired during the SuperBowl. Their commercial, "Free Doritos," features a guy who shatters a vending machine with his crystal ball after predicting free Doritos for everyone in the office. Not only was their spot the best Doritos commercial - it was also the best commercial to air during the entire game -- according to many (including myself) and more importantly USA TODAY's Ad meter contest.

You see if the Doritos ad was deemed the best according to USA TODAY's Ad meter contest -- Joe and Dave would also win $1 million.

How did a bunch of brothers beat some of the best creative minds in the business with multi-million dollar budgets?

Simple. They did their homework and came up with a great idea.

They studied all the previous winners of USA TODAY's Ad meter contest to see what resonated with those judges. They knew, for example, they wanted people to laugh twice. They also took their time to develop a really wonderful idea.

After they had their concept, the went to their local YMCA with a bunch of friends and family, a vending machine they bought off of ebay and shot their commercial. Besides the vending machine ($400 plus 5 sheets of glass), their biggest cost was buying food for everyone.

The "SuperBowl" of advertising is being on SuperBowl with the best ad ... and it just goes to show you the power of a great idea trumps mega budgets every time.

Read more here. Or watch this piece from CNN.