One of the great American pastimes is watching TV. We love it, we can’t get enough of it, and we watch it for hours a day. There is nothing more American than watching TV. Watching TV came to be wildly popular in the 1950s and has maintained its grip on us ever since. The internet is giving it a go, but TV just made it possible to have the internet on our TVs. Genius! There is one event on the calendar of watching TV that most people never miss, and it’s an event so big that hundreds of millions of people all over the world watch it. It’s the Super Bowl, of course! No one misses it, and it’s a big appointment viewing. For a lot of years, the game took second string to the commercials. In the 90s, the Super Bowl was a boring game that was usually a blowout, so the commercials became the focal point of the spectacle. Advertisers would pull out the big guns, their best work, and create the catchiest slogans for the game. Budweiser, the King of Beers, became the king of commercials during the Super Bowl. Year after year, Budweiser has produced memorable advertisements for the world to see. They range from hilarious to emotional, but they are all entertaining. Put on your red, white, and blue baseball jersey and read about the best Budweiser commercials of all time.
The Budweiser Frogs (1995)
The Budweiser Frogs was a simplistic way to say the name Budweiser repeatedly. It opens with a frog chilling on a Lilypad in the dark, croaking. The croak sounds like “bud” and on it goes. Another frog joins in saying “weis” and on they go back and forth until the third frog joins in saying “er”. Back and forth they croak until they go in order, Bud-weis-er. The beauty of it all is that the frogs sound like normal frogs, and it’s not until the end of the commercial that you realize what you’re watching and the product being pitched.
Bud Bowl I (1989)
Bud Bowl was truly the O.G. of big-time Super Bowl commercials. It was a long-form ad campaign that started before the game. The Bud Bowl was played during the commercial breaks during the Super Bowl and it was Bud Light vs. Bud heavy bottles. An animated game was played, complete with announcers and “cans” in the stands. The best line from the series is the comment, “Did you see the neck on that guy?” In the end, this commercial was four minutes of advertising genius that turned commercials into must-watch television. By the way, Budweiser won.
The Secret Fridge (2006)
The spotlight opens on a guy stocking his fridge with Bud Light, preparing to host his buddies for the game. Another guy walks in and asks if he is worried that everyone is going to drink all his beer. His response is, “Do not worry. Look what I had installed.” He then pulls a lever and the refrigerator and wall revolve around like in a speakeasy and are replaced by a table and two chairs. The shot moves to another apartment where three bros are frantically grabbing as much beer as possible, one of them exclaiming, “Guys hurry up! The magic fridge is back!”
Copier Salesman (1997)
A sleazy copier salesman pushes a beat-up, ratty-looking copier into an office and asks the man where he wants it. The man objects and claims that he wanted a new copier. The salesman claims that it is better than new, and then reaches into his briefcase and photocopies and picture of a bottle of bud light. Wouldn’t you know it, one bottle comes out first, and more bottles follow! The sleazy sales guy then opens the lid of the copier and reveals sleazy sales guy #2 inside the machine sending out the beers. Revenge is had when the customer plugs in the machine and the inside man gets a shock. The scene closes on his shocked face holding a beer.
Referee (2003)
The scene opens to a snowy trench running the length of the screen. Then appear the legs and hooves of several horses. They enter the shot slowly, approaching the line in the snow. When one of the hooves is about to touch the line, the motion stops and then rewinds. This happens a few times and the shot then zooms out to show two groups of horses standing on either side of a football. They are impatiently waiting for a decision to come from the instant replay official. Then two cowboys have a dialog which goes, “This referee’s a jackass.” The other cowboy replies, “Nope. I believe that’s a zebra.”
Wassup! (1999)
These are all-time favorite commercials. The Wassup! ad campaign had guys, bros, and dudes all over the country saying “Waassuuuuuup.” It wore out in an instant, but it was hilarious at the time. The first commercial opens on a Drake-looking guy laying on the couch, watching the game and having a beer. He answers his phone and talks to his guy friend who is doing the same thing, when the roommate enters and says, “Wassup”. From there, the commercial spirals out of control with more phone calls and more goofballs delivering the catchphrase. This spawned more similar commercials and was copied on TV shows, in movies, and by other ads. The Wassup! commercial became a brief pop culture phenomenon of its time, as well as one of the best Budweiser commercials of all time.
Born a Donkey (2004)
This is another all-timer that will have you laughing. To fully appreciate this one in all its hilarity, you must see it. Google “born a donkey” and laugh your head off. It chronicles a donkey and his dream of becoming a Budweiser Clydesdale and pulling the iconic Budweiser cart. “Since I was born, I dreamed of becoming a Budweiser Clydesdale. Only problem is, I was born a donkey." We then see the team of horses trotting by as the donkey looks on longingly. We then witness his journey to becoming a Clydesdale and the lengths he went through to get there, including hair extensions around his hooves. After years of hard work, practice, and sacrifice, he finally lands the pressure-packed interview in front of the whole team of Clydesdales. The interview is brief but hilarious.
