ABBEVILLE, KATC — With the Super Bowl just around the corner, fans are gearing up for more than just the game and Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance. The commercials—often bold, outrageous, and memorable—are a highlight of the big day.
One local filmmaker nearly saw his own creation featured on the grandest stage of all.
John Paul Summers, an Abbeville native and Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” semi-finalist, has always had a passion for commercials. “I’ve always really liked commercials and watched the Super Bowl for the commercials,” Summers said. “My memory of the Super Bowl as a kid is the week after, everyone talking about what the funniest commercial was.”
That love of advertising led Summers to submit his own entry in partnership with Movee Media in the Doritos competition, with an offbeat concept titled Ashes to Ashes. The ad, which blended humor with the sensitive theme of loss, almost earned him a coveted spot on the Super Bowl broadcast.
“The original idea came from a personal experience with my dad’s passing,” Summers explained. “I started thinking about the relationship between a man and his father’s ashes.” Initially, the concept focused on a man of Summers' age, but the story soon took a different direction.
“Someone said, ‘You should do it, you should do it,’” Summers recalled. “And I thought, ‘It should really be an older woman.’ I started thinking about my mom and how I could honor that relationship.”
The commercial centers around a comedic scene where an older woman, played by local actress Becca Begnaud, unexpectedly becomes the star. “Something really special about this commercial is that it deals with death but, at the same time, there’s humor,” said Begnaud. “People don’t often associate death with humor, but in this case, it works.”
Summers added that humor, when done right, can help people confront difficult topics. “There’s always truth in humor,” Begnaud said. “Having humor lets us understand the reality of death without challenging your belief systems.”
Though Summers didn't win the contest—falling just short of landing the million-dollar prize and a Super Bowl spot—he’s still grateful for the recognition. “I love making commercials; that’s my work,” he said. “When people like your work, that’s a huge compliment.”
For Summers, being named a semi-finalist was validation after years of effort and creativity. He may not have made it to the Super Bowl this time, but he remains focused on his passion for filmmaking—and who knows, maybe next year, a new idea will take center stage.
