Junior Luke Vogel would have never guessed that playing Coldplay’s songs on a piano in a Pensacola Fla. hotel, would lead to an opportunity for stardom.
Vogel was playing “Paradise” when the familiar sound caught Keith Peek’s attention.
Peek, who is a video production director at Passion City Church in Atlanta and a student at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, was on vacation when he heard Vogel. Peek had recently attended a Coldplay concert and liked Vogel’s talents.
“It made me want to shoot [some footage of him] him for a short film for my portfolio,” Peek said.
With that thought, Peek introduced himself and asked to film Vogel.
“After he videoed me, we got to talking and I noticed he was wearing a Georgia Tech hat, so I asked him if he was from Georgia and he said he was,” Vogel said.
A month or two later Vogel said Peek sent him a message through Facebook asking him to be part of a Doritos commercial he was shooting. Peek plans to enter it in the “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, sponsored by Doritos. The winning commercial will air during the Super Bowl.
It’s Peek’s second attempt at the national commercial contest.
“My brother works in sales for Doritos and told me about it,” Peek said.
“Last year there were 1.3 million entries and my commercial made it into the top 50,” Peek said. “I have hopes that we will make it to the finals this year.”
It might be Peek’s dream to make a national commercial, but for Vogel, it was a chance at fame.
Whatever their reasons, the two seemed fated to meet.
“I chose Luke because his personality was easy to work with and his overall look fit the main character in my commercial,” Peek said. “I needed someone young, but who looked older.”
Vogel said he has the looks for the part, but his acting inexperience didn’t hold him back.
“At first I was hesitant to be in the commercial, but when he told me it was going to be in a contest and had the chance to be part of the Super Bowl commercials, I changed my mind and said yes,” Vogel said.
“I was just thinking how cool of an opportunity it was to be on TV, especially during the Super Bowl,” he said.
The commercial was shot inside an old private jet in August at an airport museum in Marietta.
“I wasn’t really nervous, I just didn’t know what to expect,” Vogel said. “It was weird at first because I never acted before. I just winged it, and Keith said I did a good job.”
Vogel said his limited acting skills weren’t a problem because the commercial was pretty simple.
“I was sitting in the airplane enjoying the ride while drawing a picture of a Doritos bag that I didn’t really draw,” Vogel said.
“Next we replaced the picture with an empty Doritos bag that was glued to the paper,” Vogel said. “When I peeled it back, it looked like the picture came to life, and I had to act really surprised.”
After Vogel had a real Doritos bag placed in his hand, a flight attendant walked by.
“He stole the bag and took a bite,” Vogel said. “I had to tackle him because he stole my Doritos.”
Peek said he was pleased with the commercial.
“He did a great job and I am definitely going to use him again,” Peek said.
Vogel would have never guessed that attending the wedding of a family friend in Pensacola would have given him the opportunity for Super Bowl fame.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t back out of it because I would never have had this experience,” Vogel said.
To view the Doritos’ commercials, go to “Crash the Super Bowl” Facebook page.
Turner Hitt • Jan 15, 2013 at 2:57 pm
Really cool and well-written story! It’s great that you were able to discover a story like this in your community! A+ journalism!