The brothers Dave and Joe Herbert were awarded $1 million by the snack maker Frito-Lay for winning the USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter contest, being rated by consumers as the most popular Super Bowl ad.

Both Dave and Joe, who are 32 and 33 years old respectively, are married with kids, and unemployed.  They are aspiring filmmakers who have been making amateur films since they were kids.  The brothers are enjoying their rapid rise to fame and have been on a flash media tour including a stop at the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Their ad was made with just $2,000 and was filmed at a YMCA.  The brothers plan to invest their windfall in a board game called Triviathon and, as would be expected, in the development of a film script.  Part of the money will also be used to reward the ad’s cast and crew who spent an entire day of filming for nothing more than free food.

In case you are wondered how they managed the creation of the scene where the crystal ball hits the boss in the crotch, they used a little bit of digital magic to make the Styrofoam ball appear as if it were the real crystal ball.  And just to be on the safe side the actor was wearing protective underwear.

In the article Wikinomics we mentioned the book of the same title and discussed how general consumers are helping shape products that are better than what in-house engineers can come up with.  In this case, two amateur consumers with a small investment were able to outdo the big ad agencies and come up with a very popular advertisement for the Super Bowl – and they were richly rewarded for their creativity.  This is point proof of the power of Wikinomics.

Despite of the current economic turbulence, there hasn’t been a better time for entrepreneurs and creative people to share their work with the world through the vast social media and get huge exposure in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.  Don’t let this economic downturn discourage you.  As the Herbert brothers have proved, anyone with a bit of imagination and a willingness to take some risk can hit the jackpot.

In case you have missed the ad, we have it right here for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy it.

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