The fifth day of our 12-day festive countdown feature looks at how PepsiCo gave fans a hands-on experience and the chance to win big during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend.
Doritos used the Las Vegas Grand Prix as a platform to showcase PepsiCo’s newly launched global partnership with Formula 1, unveiling a large-scale Human Claw Machine activation aimed at driving fan engagement during the race weekend.
The installation formed part of the East Harmon Zone fan experience and was positioned as a physical twist on the classic arcade claw machine format.
Fans were suspended above a pit of Doritos packets, with performance tracked via a leaderboard system designed to reward the most successful participants across the event – the more packets grabbed out of the pit, the better.
As part of the competitive mechanic, fans who topped the leaderboard were offered tickets to attend the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2026, giving the activation a clear incentive beyond on-site prizes and product sampling.
The approach linked immediate participation with a long-term reward tied directly to F1’s flagship US event.
The activation sits within Doritos’ role as F1’s Official Savoury Snack Partner under PepsiCo’s multi-year agreement with the championship, which came into effect this season.
The wider deal, running through to 2030, gives PepsiCo brands activation rights across grands prix, fan zones and digital platforms, with Doritos positioned as a lead brand for experiential engagement.
Rather than focusing on traditional trackside visibility, Doritos’ Las Vegas build leaned into participatory entertainment, reflecting F1’s broader strategy of expanding the scale and ambition of its fan zones.
Las Vegas, in particular, has been positioned as an event where off-track experiences play a central role in attracting new and casual audiences.
PepsiCo has previously described the F1 partnership as an opportunity for Doritos to connect with fans “at every turn”, using bold, interactive concepts to reflect the brand’s personality while aligning with the sport’s growing cultural reach.
From F1’s perspective, activations of this nature support wider commercial objectives around dwell time, audience engagement and social amplification. Organisers have increasingly highlighted immersive builds as a way to extend the Grand Prix experience beyond the circuit itself, particularly in entertainment-led markets such as the United States.
As PepsiCo’s F1 partnership continues to grow – and on the back of a deal with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, Doritos’ Las Vegas Human Claw Machine offers an early indication of how consumer brands intend to use live events to deliver scale, visibility and measurable fan interaction within the championship’s expanding commercial ecosystem.
