Va. Beach man's commercial wins big

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - When Derek Leonidoff's friend, Jonathan Friedman, approached him about a commercial project, he had no clue how successful it would be.

"Jon called me up and said, 'Hey, I've got this idea. Do you want to be an actor in it,'" said Leonidoff, who is the actor in the commercial.

Fast forward to Sunday, February 5, when Jonathan's commercial ended up airing before halftime during the Super Bowl.

"We just erupted in cheers and laughter and tears," said Leonidoff of when the commercial aired.  "It's been very exciting."

Jonathan, his brother, Matthew and Leonidoff didn't know for sure if their commercial would air on Sunday.

Jonathan submitted the commercial as part of the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" Ad contest 2012 .  The commercial, called, "Man's Best Friend," was one of more than 6,000 submissions.  Production for the spot cost about $20. 

Jonathan and Leonidoff found out they made the top five recently.  All top five commercial creators were flown out to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl, all expenses paid.  They were told the top two Doritos commercials would air during the Super Bowl. 

Not only did their spot make the top two, a USA Today panel of 286 people voted "Man's Best Friend" the best commercial of the Super Bowl.  The title won Jonathan Friedman $1 million.

According to USA Today , there is still one more contest for the USA TODAY/Facebook Ad Meter.  Voting for that contest began during the Super Bowl and will end on Tuesday at 6 p.m.  You can vote here .  This contest is open to everyone on Facebook.

According to a contest spokesperson, even if Jonathan's commercial wins first place in the Ad Meter, he will not win an additional $1 million.