Elena Sánchez Rivera, a junior majoring in art history and visual culture, won $500 in the Doritos Open Brief Challenge.

The Open Brief Challenge is part of a series of challenges in which Doritos seeks creative content from the public with winners receiving cash prizes. The contest’s guidelines stated, “we are giving you the green light to create whatever your heart desires,” accepting “memes, recipe videos, social media trends, anything and everything.”

With the open prompt, Rivera created two submissions. Her first submission was a video in which she depicts a gamer who finds Doritos to be the key to her success. In her second submission, Rivera was inspired by a popular internet meme to create an intentionally minimalist Doritos bag design.

Rivera shared, “For me, working with the Doritos Online brand has been more challenging than I thought it would be. I have come to understand that behind a video of a few seconds for a social network there are many hours of research and work behind it.” The time and research paid off for Rivera who received a congratulatory letter and $500 check from Doritos.

Rivera used inspiration and knowledge from her Creative Advertising Concepts course in the contest, believing this course will help her pursue further creative endeavors: “Understanding how to craft compelling messages and utilize visual and digital platforms effectively will enable me to attract diverse audiences and enhance their connection to art and history in the future.”

Rivera proves an example of Lindenwood’s mission by applying her education and professional preparatory experience to achieve real success. Following graduation in Spring 2026, Rivera plans to further her education with the goal of working in a creative field, connecting people through art.