Doritos makes history with world's first extraterrestrial advert

The transmission is being undertaken as part of the Doritos Broadcast Project, which invited the UK public to create a 30 second video clip that could be beamed out to the universe offering a snap shot of life on earth to anyone 'out there'. 61% of the UK public believe this is just the start of communication with ET life and that we will enter into regular communication with an alien species at some stage in the future.

The winning space-ad entitled 'Tribe' was voted for by the British public and directed by 25-year-old Matt Bowron. It will officially be entered into the Guinness Book of Records and will be aired on the more conventional medium of television on Sunday 15th June on ITV at 7.44pm in the ad break of the final Group B game of Euro 2008.

The message is being pulsed out over a six-hour period from high-powered radars at the EISCAT European space station in the Arctic Circle. The University of Leicester has also been involved in the project from its inception.

EISCAT Director, Professor Tony van Eyken who will oversee the transmission said: "The signal is directed at a solar system just 42 light years away from Earth, in the 'Ursa Major' or Great Bear Constellation. Its star is very similar to our Sun and hosts a habitable zone that could harbour small life supporting planets similar to ours."

Peter Charles, Head of the Doritos Broadcast Project said: "We are constantly looking to push the boundaries of advertising and this will go further than any brand has gone before. By broadcasting the winning ad to the Universe, Doritos is delivering a world first and Matt Bowron, the winner, will go down in advertising folklore. We also shouldn't be too surprised if the first aliens start arriving on planet Earth immediately demanding a bag of Doritos."

The broadcast received praise from Nick Pope, former Head of the MoD's UFO project. Nick, a leading authority on UFO sightings and alien abductions commented: "I support this bold new venture in space communication. As humanity reaches out to the stars, this broadcast could lead to us finding the real ET. This is a historic day in our continuing search for alien life."

Dr Darren Wright, a New Blood Lecturer of the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy said: "The Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group and Department of Physics and Astronomy as a whole at the University of Leicester has a very high international profile in the area of Space Physics.

"An important part of this project is that it provides an additional component to the Physics and Astronomy Department's ever increasing outreach programme. The ad to be transmitted has been created by the public following a national competition thus increasing public awareness of space activities.

"The University is particularly committed to outreach programmes along with the National Space Centre - the brainchild of the University of Leicester - and engaged in a number of programmes with the wider public."

Source: University of Leicester