Tom Noakes: He's Finger Licking Good

For many, Tom Noakes’ Doritos Crash the Super Bowl spot stole the show, if not the prize. The native of the Sunshine Coast talks to Joe Lancaster about key influences, key work, and how a spot of nose-picking can get you a long way in advertising

The only thing that was ‘super’ about the ads interrupting this year’s big NFL game was how disappointing they were. But among the collection of average-to-poor TVCs made for the biggest TV audience on Earth, there was one brilliant spot that stood head and shoulders above the rest. It identified a truth about a product that people love and worked it into a hilarious, beautifully crafted story. What a shame it wasn’t aired.

Dusting off the competition

A lot of people think he was robbed of a million dollars but Tom Noakes is either an incredible actor or he genuinely means it when he insists he wasn’t gutted not to win Doritos’ Crash The Super Bowl competition in February. His self-penned spot, Finger Cleaner, showed a mechanic inserting his Doritos cheese-dusted finger into a wall-mounted device and pulling it out clean. We then see that the ‘machine’ is a middle-aged man on the other side of the wall with a penchant for sucking cheesy digits. Some suggested it was too close to the bone for the client and that it was the brand, not the voting public, that decided it wouldn’t win.

“I expected it,” says a cheery Noakes, sounding nothing like a man who feels robbed. “People picked us as the favourite, but they just looked at the views and were like, ‘wow, they’ve had three times as many views as the next competitor’, but all those views hadn’t been built in the voting period.”

The winning ad, Time Machine, was aired along with Cowboy Kid, the runner-up picked by Doritos from the final three ads. Both featured dogs, little kids and – although they were fairly well made –  little panache. Noakes remains philosophical. “We knew what we were making. It’s a pretty controversial ad that polarises people. The winners were more PG-friendly and, as long as people watched them, they’d most likely vote for them.”

We’re chatting via Skype a few days after the Super Bowl as the Australian director is in Brooklyn winding up a publicity tour for the brand. He’s been doing interviews and TV appearances at home and in the US, as well as hammering social media 24/7 and creating extra content like memes and GIFs, all to help his cause. “It’s a huge amount of work, two or three months of our lives have been completely dedicated to this,” says the 27-year-old who was awarded US $25,000 for making it to the final. “That’s the benefit [for brands] of doing a competition like this – the ratio of money injected to international brand exposure is insane.”

Born near Brisbane, Noakes grew up on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, filming skate videos inspired by the visual styles of Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze. He moved to Sydney to study at AFTRS, with ambitions to make ads and to “work with different people regularly, engaging with different creative teams”, he explains. “Looking at directors like Gondry, Jonze, Godsall and Kuntz, I saw that commercials were not just a way to sustain a living and have a lot of fun but that they got the chance to work in a lot of styles and explore and excavate their own talents.”

In the past year or two, since signing with Photoplay Films, Noakes has changed direction and is making a name for himself as a comedy director. He’s shot ads through big agencies for several brands including The Greens, Tooheys, Fisher & Paykel and Kia. For the latter, Noakes worked with Innocean Sydney to create Pick Of The Day, a live stunt where a young actor was filmed picking his nose at an AFL game, with the footage shown live on the stadium’s giant screen for the 30,000 present fans to see. The line: “He wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable in the all-new Cerato” appeared as he ‘realised’ he was being watched. It was a risky idea but one that paid off. “We only had one shot at it,” says Noakes who, due to broadcast rights, was forced to use the stadium’s cameras and a collection of small handhelds and iPhones to get the crowd shots. “It took me back to my roots, I guess. When you’ve shot skate videos, you’re used to the candid style.” The crowd fell for it, erupting with laughter, and the film subsequently went viral, as did footage shot by the fans themselves.

Superb casting was crucial for both the Kia and Doritos ads and although Noakes nailed it both times, he’s reluctant to blow his own trumpet. “I’d find it hard to say that ‘yeah, that’s one of my strong points’, because that’s a bit self-serving and egotistical,” he says with unnecessary yet charming modesty. “Australia is a small market. There’s not a huge pool of [actors] so you’ve got to be specific  about what you want, but you’ve also got to be adaptable about what comes your way and change the idea accordingly.” In fact, of the 20 or 30 ideas he initially sketched for Doritos, Noakes had to drop his preferred choice mid-development due to an unsuccessful search for a child actor who could play a key role.

A feature in his future

Noakes has ambitions to work abroad and is in talks with production companies in the States but also hopes to carve a successful career in Australia and, ultimately, make a feature there. Despite not winning the $1m, he thinks the Doritos spot will pay off in other ways. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it was a worthwhile experience and time well spent. It’s introduced us to some amazing people who we wouldn’t have had the privilege or opportunity of meeting otherwise – like Jeff Goodby, who was awesome.” He’s also received a flurry of scripts since Finger Cleaner was released, the quality of which he wouldn’t have seen previously. While the prize money might not have gone to the best director, perhaps having made the best film will make Noakes the winner in the long run.