Psshh! A commercial created by a UCF graduate for only $30 during his office\u2019s lunch break could air during the world\u2019s biggest advertising showcase.<\/p>\n
Brandy Gill\u2019s Pepsi Max commercial beat out 5,600 other entries, placing him as a top ten finalist in the Doritos and Pepsi Max \u201cCrash the Super Bowl Challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The top three commercials from each of the Doritos and Pepsi Max categories will be shown during Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, Feb. 6.\u00a0 Fans can vote for their favorite\u00a0through Sunday, Jan. 30.<\/p>\n
Gill\u2019s commercial features his co-workers saying \u201cPshhh!\u201d in disbelief when they\u2019re told that Pepsi Max has no calories during a focus group meeting.<\/p>\n
“We weren\u2019t expecting it to get so far,\u201d Gill said.\u00a0 \u201cWe were just making the video for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gill graduated from UCF in 1997 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in Journalism and Advertising and Public Relations.\u00a0 He began his studies in the Radio-Television program, but after working as an intern at a local news station, Gill decided to move in another direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive news is very stressful, and the schedule just wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d said Gill.<\/p>\n
It was in Professor Peter Cranis\u2019 advertising classes that Gill found his creative calling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Advertising Copywriting and Ad Campaigns classes really piqued my interest in what it would be like to work in the creative department in an ad agency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While at UCF, Gill participated in Quotes, UCF\u2019s student chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. He spent most of his time gaining valuable internship experience that would eventually lead him to his first job in advertising.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had professors that really went out of their way to help me get an internship, and I feel like internships were more helpful than anything because they gave me to opportunity for hands-on learning,\u201d said Gill.<\/p>\n
Now the creative director at Acropolis Ad Agency, Gill draws inspiration from everything from TV shows, music, and art, to daily life.\u00a0 In fact, the \u201cPsshh\u201d idea came from Gill noticing his friends making the sound to declare disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn advertising you really have to be aware of everything that\u2019s going on around you,\u201d Gill said. \u201cYou really have to connect with consumers and with the things that are going on in their lives and popular culture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Psshh! A commercial created by a UCF graduate for only $30 during his office\u2019s lunch break could air during the world\u2019s biggest advertising showcase. Brandy Gill\u2019s Pepsi Max commercial beat out 5,600 other entries, placing him as a top ten finalist in the Doritos and Pepsi Max \u201cCrash the Super Bowl Challenge.\u201d The top three commercials from each of the…","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":19742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[123,2562,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-19741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-advertising-and-public-relations","tag-journalism","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n