Whassup?
Whassup? (also known as Wazzup) was a commercial campaign for Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002.[1] The first spot aired during Monday Night Football on December 20, 1999. The ad campaign ran in much of the world and became a pop culture catchphrase, comically slurring "what's up?".
Origins
[edit]The commercials were based on the short film True written and directed by Charles Stone III, featuring Stone and several of his childhood friends: Fred Thomas, Paul Williams, Terry Williams, Jimmy "Puerto Rock" Perez, and Kevin Lofton. The characters sat around talking on the phone and saying "whassup?" to one another in a comical way. Steve Weinshel from C&C STORM films sent the popular short film to creative director Vinny Warren and art director Chuck Taylor at the Chicago-based ad agency DDB. They then presented the concept to August Busch IV, vice president of Anheuser-Busch. Impressed, Busch IV licensed the idea from C&C Storm films and enlisted Stone as the director for Budweiser TV commercials inspired by the film. Scott Martin Brooks won the role of Dookie when Kevin Lofton declined to audition.[2]
Accolades
[edit]Whassup? was awarded the Cannes Grand Prix award and the Grand Clio award, among others. The campaign was inducted into the CLIO Hall of Fame in May 2006.
Sequels
[edit]In 2000, Budweiser created a sequel entitled "Whassup Girlfriend" featuring the original cast, with one member watching a program with his girlfriend when his friends call.
In 2001, during Super Bowl XXXV, Budweiser aired two more sequels. One, titled "Whassup Come Home", features an alien who returns to his mothership and is asked what he has learned during his time on Earth, to which he responds, "Whassuuuuuuuuuuup." The other, titled "What Are You Doing?", is a direct parody of the original commercial but instead featuring a cast of yuppies who utter the phrase, "What are you doing?" instead of, "Whassup?"
Eight years after it first aired, Stone rebooted the ad, with the same cast, as Wassup 2008. The two-minute short film was heavily critical of the presidency of George W. Bush and was a clear endorsement of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.[3] The 2008 video was nominated for the Favorite User Generated Video award at the 35th People's Choice Awards.
In 2020 a new ad campaign "Checking in, that's Whassup" was created by VaynerMedia. Social media spots featured friends meeting on an online platform, a common occurrence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign encouraged viewers to check in with friends, and received a Bronze award from the Clio Sports program.[4]
Cultural influence
[edit]The campaign was notably parodied in the 2000 comedy horror film Scary Movie.
References
[edit]- ^ Klochko, C. A. (April 30, 2018). "Grammatical Aspect Of An Effective Advertising Text". European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences. 39: 454–460. doi:10.15405/epsbs.2018.04.02.64.
- ^ Carter, Kelley L. (April 21, 2000). "They're up: With a stop at Comerica Park, the friends starring in Budweiser's 'Whassup' commercials say hello to success". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on February 27, 2004.
- ^ Luning, Earnest (October 24, 2008). "'Wassup' commercial returns with same cast, political twist". The Colorado Independent. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ^ "Checking in, that's Whassup". Clio Awards. 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2023.