There are several ways of measuring the success of an ad campaign, from polls and focus groups to sales statistics and industry awards. And while none of these guides is particularly foolproof, if an ad campaign succeeds by the measure of all these yardsticks—that is, if it proves popular with the general public, boosts a product’s sales and sweeps the awards-show circuit—chances are it’s pretty good.
Such is the happy circumstance of Budweiser’s "Whassup" campaign, out of DDB Chicago, which boasts a catchphrase that’s part of the popular lexicon, and a host of awards ranging from the Grand Clio to the Cannes International Advertising Festival’s Grand Prix. Moreover, according to DDB Chicago associate creative director/ copywriter Vinny Warren, for the quarter following the campaign’s release, Budweiser sales were the highest they’d been in a decade.
Suffice it to say that Warren has reason to be pleased. It was his idea to turn True—a two-and-a-half minute film by then-unknown director Charles Stone III of Storm Films, Brooklyn, N.Y.—into a beer ad.
The timing was right. Warren saw the film when he was in what he calls "Bud spot-hunting mode." Each year, Anheuser-Busch produces several new ads that it considers for air on the Super Bowl. So each year, DDB creatives endure a brainstorm season, an annual push for new concepts for the brewer’s Super Bowl ad blitz.
When it came to True, Warren immediately saw catchphrase potential in the "whassup" exchange. "I wasn’t shooting for awards," he relates. "I was shooting for a big cultural impact." He also knew that his proposed line of dialogue—"Watching the game, drinkin’ a Bud"—wouldn’t work with just any beer. "Budweiser is a special case," he says. "Everyone knows the beer and has an opinion about it. So we can get away with a line like that. When I’m analyzing my ideas, I question whether or not anyone else could use the idea. You couldn’t say, ‘Watchin’ the game, drinkin’ a Miller.’ "
New levels
The most recent "Whassup" ads—"Bird’s the Word/Web" and "Language Tape," which were helmed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander—are something of a nod to the numerous parodies that have surfaced since the campaign originally broke in late 1999. (Stone was unavailable to direct the spots due to the production of Paid in Full, the working title of his feature-directing debut for Dimension Films.)
For instance, "Bird’s the Word/ Web" pairs the audio track from the original "Whassup/True" spot with live action footage of several parrots who resemble the original participants, inside a pet shop. After a spirited exchange between the birds, a shop employee is seen shaking his head in disbelief.
Meanwhile, "Language Tape" demonstrates how that now-famous catch phrase translates into other tongues. For instance, two Frenchmen say, "Ça va?" while a couple of Scotsmen offer up, "How about ya?" The ad also encourages viewers to check out the Whassup?! Language Program on www.Budweiser.com, where the greeting literally is translated into 36 languages. Warren said that since the ad broke, average visits to the Web site grew from a period of 14 minutes to 70 minutes.
Warren credits the countless unsolicited parodies of the campaign—from the Superfriends, to the scene in the summer blockbuster Scary Movie, to the spot in which old ladies watch a game show and drink a Bud—with both spreading and sustaining it. "Because of the Internet, the campaign went around the world really quickly," he says. "It’s very e-mailable." The spoofs have also taught him the importance of staying ahead of the curve. The aforementioned game-show parody surfaced online before a similar DDB ad aired, so the spot had to be shelved.
Then and Now
A native of Ireland, Warren was working in London, selling airtime on British television, when he caught the advertising bug. After taking a few classes in advertising, he got a green card and headed to New York, where he worked odd jobs, including driving a horse and carriage in Central Park, before landing his first gig in ’92 at McCabe & Company, New York.
Two years later, DDB hired him as a copywriter for the Bud Light account, and out of that stint came the humor-driven ad "Pole." Helmed by Steve Chase, now of bicoastal Reactor Films, the ad featured a man bidding his girlfriend adieu at a train station. But when through her passenger window he sees her take a sip of a Bud Light, saying good-bye suddenly becomes unthinkable. He starts chasing the moving train—until a pole stops him in his tracks.
Warren next spent two years as a copywriter at Boston agency Heater Advertising, where he worked on accounts for Reebok and Scudder mutual funds, before returning to DDB in ’99 to work on Budweiser. (Last summer, Heater merged with agency Red, Mill Valley, Calif., and assumed that shop’s moniker.)
When reached by SHOOT, Warren was in New York on the set of some new "Whassup" ads that may or may not enjoy Super Bowl exposure. For that reason, Warren wasn’t at liberty to discuss the production, or the identity of the director, but he did express optimism regarding "Whassup" ‘s potential longevity. "Both DDB and Anheuser-Busch are sensitive to public opinion, and we’re not going to overstay our welcome," he explains. "The catchphrase part of the spots may have a finite life span because it’s the kind of thing you can say ten times a day. It’s not like, ‘Where’s the Beef?’ in that way. But we have a great cast and we established a vibe, which is what people reacted to, and we want to stay true to it. So, potentially it has a long life span."e
