- Doritos released a man-made intelligence-powered software tool that claims to cancel the “crunch” sound heard from snacking on its chips in audio chats, per a press release.
- The Doritos Silent tech is targeted at PC gamers. Thirty-percent of surveyed gamers within the U.S. said hearing fellow players crunch impedes their performance during gaming sessions, in line with Doritos.
- The solution, which is on the market to download online and runs only on Windows, was developed over six months with partner Smooth Technology by analyzing hundreds of snippets of crunches. Doritos teased the concept of silencing its products with social media and out-of-home (OOH) ads ramping as much as the reveal.
Noise-canceling headphones are having a moment because the underlying technology has grown sophisticated enough to drown out the sounds of busy commutes and offices to let people deal with their music and podcasts. Doritos is porting over the concept to the gaming arena, looking for to alleviate frustrations stemming from having to hearken to other players eat during online play sessions. The goal is to succeed in the 80% of Gen Z and millennial consumers who view themselves as gamers, per NewZoo research cited within the press release.
Doritos’ effort toys with a core appeal of its product — the tactile, crisp sensation of biting down on its chips — while giving the Frito-Lay marketer the prospect to experiment within the booming field of AI. In practice, the crunch-cancellation software acts as a straightforward mic filter, with users capable of activate a button that ought to sort out any munching noises they make while within the thick of a multiplayer battle.
The tool was built with help from Smooth Technology, a Brooklyn-based creative engineering and design studio, and spearheaded by Doritos’ U.K. arm. To download the feature, consumers must submit their name and email address to a web site, suggesting that Doritos could accrue useful first-party data from the promotion.
Advertising helped generate hype for the launch. Social posts and OOH placements planted the concept of “making Doritos silent” through images of the chips acting instead of noise-canceling headphones. The campaign ran within the U.S., U.K., Spain, Poland, Brazil and Portugal. Doritos has also released spots that dramatize crunch cancellation in an over-the-top fashion.
Other marketers have ramped up their overtures to PC gamers, who are inclined to be more invested within the hobby than casual players since constructing a rig that may run modern games tends to be an expensive and time-intensive process. Heineken Brazil in September debuted a gaming PC that doubled as a fridge for keeping its beers cold.
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