Lil Nas X Faces Off With Sam Elliott in Doritos Super Bowl Ad

The multiple Grammy winner stars in one of seven Super Bowl ads celebrating LGBTQ visibility that will air this Sunday.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

January 31 2020 7:01 PM EST

May 31 2023 6:26 PM EST

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Doritos Super Bowl ads have become something of a tradition and for its 2020 commercial, the chip maker has multiple Grammy winner and "Old Town Road" singer Lil Nas X in a stand-off/dance-off with actor Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski) over a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos.

The 60-second spot by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners features Lil Nas X, who came out publicly as gay not long after his song began dominated the charts last year, rides into a Western town on his horse where he challenges Elliott. After a few go-arounds it's clear that not even Elliott's signature mustache can win against the unstoppable Lil Nas X.

The ad is one of seven Super Bowl commercials that feature LGBTQ people or themes, a phenomenon GLAAD is calling the "rainbow wave" of advertising.

Joining Doritos with queer visibility at this year's Super Bowl are advertisers including Amazon Alexa, TurboTax, Pop-Tarts, Microsoft, Olay, and Sabra.

The upcoming "rainbow wave" has already elicited a right-wing backlash. One Million Moms -- an arm of the hate group American Family Association -- has petitioned to ban Sabra for showcasing drag queens in its ad. In response, GLAAD petitioned One Million Moms, a frequent but ineffectual boycotter of LGBTQ-inclusive ads and entertainment, to call it quits.