As we saw during Super Bowl XLI, a down-and-out dog earns his spots and a happy new life in Budweiser’s aptly titled :60 “Spot.”
Directed by Joe Pytka of PYTKA, Venice, Calif., the heartwarming commercial finds a sad dog roaming the streets and getting little respect. A butcher chases him away from his shop, and a Rottweiler barks ferociously at the poor pooch. As if things couldn’t get worse, a car drives by, hits a big puddle and splashes water and mud all over the white dog, leaving him covered with spots.
Walking by a mirrored door, the dog takes notice of his new appearance, then spies a parade just up the street–the famous Clydesdales are pulling a big, red truck on top of which sits a Dalmation basking in adoration.
You can see the lightbulb go off in this dog’s mind just before he sprints toward the parade.
Cut to our pal sitting atop the truck, passing as a Dalmation and enjoying the perks. When the real Dalmation shoots him a look of disbelief, the fake Dalmation winks back at him. Later, our hero gets a big hug from a beauty queen, who winds up covered in mud.
“Spot” is the brainchild of DDB Chicago’s Barry Burdiak and John Hayes, senior VP/group creative director/copywriter and VP/creative director/art director, respectively.
“We’re always looking for some angle where we can have a spot that puts the brewery on a pedestal and still entertains the masses,” Hayes explained, noting that animals–particularly dogs–have always played well during the Super Bowl.
The dog featured in this particular spot is named Tom, and he is a rescue from a shelter in Wyoming. Robin and Kate Wilshire, the husband-and-wife team that has historically trained the Clydesdales for Budweiser spots, plucked a then 10-months-old Tom from a cage just for this commercial, according to Burdiak.
The pair spent almost a month working with the big-pawed mutt, an American Bulldog/English Setter mix, before Pytka, who also served as DP on this project, set about shooting “Spot” on the Universal Studios backlot in Hollywood.
“Tom was a star on set at Universal Studios, and his reaction to the people and the bustle of activity surrounding the shoot was endearing. He loved catching the parade confetti in his mouth. He was so proud when the extras cheered him,” Kate Wilshire shared. “His concentration was exceptional for such a young dog with no previous film experience.”
Taking it up a notch
In addition to making his canine talent shine, Pytka plussed an already great concept, choosing to populate the parade with vintage cars, giving the quintessential American parade we see depicted a rather timeless feel, Burdiak related. The agency creative also credited Pytka with coming up with the idea to have the beauty queen covered in mud after wrapping her arms around Tom.
“Every time we work with Joe, he amps it up and brings it to another level. He definitely brings his own perspective to every commercial he does, and that’s one of the reasons we go to him,” Burdiak says, noting, “It’s a rollercoaster sometimes working with him because he doesn’t give away a lot of secrets or show shooting boards. But we’ve had a really great relationship with him. It’s a partnership.”
Choice cut David Baxter of Panic & Bob Editing, Toronto, cut the commercial. “We’ve worked with him a lot in the past, especially on Bud Light, and we’ve always wanted to get him in on a Budweiser project,” Burdiak said. “It just so happened that his schedule opened up, and he was able to do this. He did an outstanding job.”
The :60 spot you saw during the Super Bowl is pretty close to Baxter’s first cut, Hayes added.
As for music, Dean Martin’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” is featured in the second half of the spot; a sadder, piano version of the tune arranged by Jimmy Haun of Elias Arts, Los Angeles, accompanies the first half.
“I think we always had that song in our script,” Burdiak said. “Sure enough, we popped it on in the edit, and when we sent the rough cut to the brewery it was on there, and [Anheiser-Busch president] August Busch IV said, ‘Let’s get that song.’ “
While Busch liked the rough cut of the spot, he had a request, asking DDB Chicago to insert another magic moment.
“He challenged us, and we identified three potential places to perhaps manipulate a moment and really dial it up, and the one place we settled on was where the two dogs look at each other,” Burdiak said. “Originally, it was just a look–the Dalmation gives Tom an astonished look. We added a wink from Tom when he looks back.”
There was little time to add this wink, by the way. The artisans at visual effects shop Axyz, Toronto, actually made the alteration on the Wednesday before the Super Bowl.
Burdiak and Hayes believe the extra effort paid off. “[The commercial] really seemed to strike a chord with people,” Burdiak said, noting it wasn’t popular just with women and older folk but also with young guys.
“Even a 25-year-old wry smartass had a puppy when he was a little kid,” Burdiak pointed out.
While the spot was a hit, Tom also enjoyed a happy ending. The Wilshires adopted him, and now he is living happily ever after on their ranch in Wyoming.
