Budweiser Frogs

Last updated
Budweiser Frogs
Bud Weis Er.jpg
Advertisement featuring the Frogs
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time15–60 seconds
Production companyPalomar Pictures
Original release
Release1995 (1995) 
2000 (2000)

The Budweiser Frogs are three lifelike puppet frogs named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", who began appearing in American television commercials for Budweiser beer during Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. Adweek called it one of the "most iconic alcohol campaigns in advertising history". [1] The first Budweiser Frogs commercial was created by David Swaine, Michael Smith and Mark Choate of DMB&B/St. Louis. The commercial was directed by Gore Verbinski, who would later direct the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films. [2]

Contents

Bud, Weis, and Er

The commercial began with a scene of a swamp at nighttime, and a close-up of Bud rhythmically croaking his name. Later, Weis and Er join in. They croak rather randomly for about ten seconds, until Bud, Weis, and Er begin croaking in sequence, thus forming the Budweiser name. Their croaking becomes quicker as the camera pulls back to show a bar with a large neon Budweiser sign glowing in the night. [3] [4] The commercial is often listed among the best Super Bowl commercials in history, ranking at No. 5 at MSNBC's list in 2004. [5] Several more Frog ads were produced, with Hollywood Animatronic Effects company The Character Shop brought online to give the frogs more flexibility and capabilities. [6] In one ad, the three Budweiser Frogs are sitting on a log in a Louisiana swamp, basking in the sun, when a Budweiser truck rolls by. Bud zaps out his sticky tongue, latching onto the moving truck. Like an elastic bungee, the tongue stretches to the point where it can no more, then launches Bud off the log, sending him flying through the air after the truck, while a "Yee-Haw!" and Cajun music are heard. The frog puppets featured silicone skins over animatronic armatures, which allowed the frogs to breathe, bloat their throats, speak, and blink and move their eyes, via Radio Control and Rod Operation. A subsequent ad featured not the entire trio, but rather Bud and a newfound female frog. [7] One later Super Bowl commercial featuring the frogs had them riding on the back of an alligator into the bar, where they croak their names at the startled patrons, and leave with a crate of Budweiser beer strapped to the alligator's waist while dancing to Jamming by Bob Marley and the Wailers. [8]

Louie, Frankie, and the Ferret

After the initial ads generated great interest, new creatures began making appearances in the swamp. Beginning at Super Bowl XXXII, a new campaign created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners introduced two wisecracking chameleons made their debut. Louie, notable for his distinct Brooklyn accent (he was voiced by New York City voice actor Paul Christie), was irritated by the frogs' incessant croaking, and jealous of their success, while Frankie, who speaks in a low baritone voice (voiced by the Broadway veteran Danny Mastrogiorgio), was his more rational, even-tempered friend. Frankie apparently socialized with the frogs and was puzzled by Louie's animosity towards them.

As the series' storyline progressed, it documented Louie's enlisting the assistance of an inept ferret hit man, who tries to kill the frogs by dismantling and dropping the Budweiser neon sign into the swamp water, thus electrocuting them. Although this assassination attempt failed, it resulted in Weis developing post-electroshock muscular irregularity. Louie briefly replaced Weis in the Bud-Weis-Er cheer, but ended up getting all of them fired, due to Louie's inability to just follow the script. The other frogs in return gave him a literal tongue-lashing and revealed to Louie that they could speak with a complete vocabulary and that they knew all along about his plot against them. These three frogs then began a new lifestyle as flashy tap-dancing and Fred Astaire-mimicking acts on Broadway.

The Budweiser Lizards later displaced the frogs entirely and continued appearing in television and radio advertisements into the early 2000s. In March 1999 Budweiser released a CD, Frank & Louie's Greatest Hits, featuring songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama," "My Sharona," and "Rock This Town" woven around alternate takes of some of Frank and Louie's radio ads.

Controversy

Much like the Joe Camel controversy around the time of the frogs' popularity, a 1996 study showed that more children recognized the Budweiser frogs, which they correctly associated with beer, than other television animal characters such as Ronald McDonald, Smokey Bear, and Tony the Tiger; only Bugs Bunny did slightly better. [9] [10] Many have speculated that Budweiser's frogs were targeting younger people to their alcoholic products. [11] Anheuser-Busch denied this, [12] but because of such findings Budweiser eventually slowed down the ad campaign in the following years, and by 2000 the frogs had been replaced by chameleons Louie and Frankie that appealed to an older audience than the frogs. However, the frogs and lizards were in some of the same commercials.

See also

Related Research Articles

Budweiser is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filtered beer, available on draft and in bottles and cans, made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grover</span> Sesame Street Muppet character

Grover is a blue Muppet character on the popular PBS/HBO children's television show Sesame Street. Self-described as lovable, cute, and furry, he is a blue monster who rarely uses contractions when he speaks or sings. Grover was originally performed by Frank Oz from his earliest appearances. Eric Jacobson has performed the character regularly from the year 1998 onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anheuser-Busch</span> American brewing company

Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC, is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple global brands, notably Budweiser, Michelob, Stella Artois, and Beck's.

Whassup? was a commercial campaign for Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002. 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?".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainier Brewing Company</span> American former brewing company (1878–1999)

The Rainier Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Seattle, Washington. It brewed Rainier Beer, a popular brand in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Although Rainier was founded in 1884, the Seattle site had been brewing beer since 1878. The beer is no longer brewed in Seattle, nor is the company owned locally. After a series of ownership transfers starting in the 1970s, the company was sold to Stroh's and then to Pabst Brewing Company by the late 1990s. The brewery was closed by Pabst in 1999 and sold, while Rainier beer continues to be sold by Pabst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spuds MacKenzie</span> Dog mascot of Bud Light beer

Spuds MacKenzie is a fictional dog character used for an extensive advertising campaign marketing Bud Light beer in the late 1980s. The Spuds MacKenzie mascot and campaign was the idea of a 23-year-old art director, Jon Moore. At the time, he was working at Needham, Harper, and Steers, a Chicago advertising agency. The dog first showed up in a Bud Light Super Bowl XXI ad in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kokanee beer</span> Type of Canadian beer

Kokanee is a beer brewed at the Columbia Brewery in Creston, British Columbia. Columbia Brewery began brewing Kokanee lager in 1959 and was purchased by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bud Bowl</span> Super Bowl advertising campaign

The Bud Bowl was a stop motion animated Super Bowl advertising campaign first aired in 1989, and sporadically during the 1990s. It served as an advertisement for Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser family of beers. It featured anthropomorphized Budweiser bottles playing a football game against Bud Light bottles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Bowl commercials</span> Television commercials during the Super Bowl

Super Bowl commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads, are high-profile television commercials featured in the U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). Super Bowl commercials have become a cultural phenomenon of their own alongside the game itself, as many viewers only watch the game to see the commercials. Many Super Bowl advertisements have become well known because of their cinematographic quality, unpredictability, surreal humor, and use of special effects. The use of celebrity cameos has also been common in Super Bowl ads. Some commercials airing during, or proposed to air during the game, have also attracted controversy due to the nature of their content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodby, Silverstein & Partners</span>

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is an advertising agency based in San Francisco.

<i>Kermits Swamp Years</i> 2002 The Muppets film

Kermit's Swamp Years is a 2002 American direct-to-video buddy comedy-drama road adventure film, directed by David Gumpel, featuring Jim Henson's Muppets, including a young Kermit and his best friends Goggles and Croaker, who travel outside their homes in the swamps of the Deep South to do something extraordinary with their lives.

Duff Beer is a brand of beer that originated as a fictional beverage on the American animated series The Simpsons. Beers using the Duff branding have been brewed in a number of countries, resulting in legal battles with varying results. An official version is sold in three variations near the Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios. In 2015, 20th Century Fox, the producer of The Simpsons, began selling licensed Duff beer in Chile, with a view to driving out brandjacking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Busch IV</span> American businessman (born 1964)

August Adolphus Busch IV is an American businessman and former CEO of Anheuser-Busch. He was the last of the family to control the company, which was purchased in a hostile takeover in 2008 by InBev. Busch IV was known for his marketing leadership, where his history as head of the Anheuser-Busch marketing department garnered ten straight USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter awards, as well as awards at Cannes and the Grand Clio. He also served as a director of shipping giant FedEx. Busch has been involved in a number of legal incidents during his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Martin Brooks</span> American actor

Scott Martin Brooks is an American actor, best known as the character "Dookie" in the "Whassup?" series of television commercials for Budweiser brand of beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Budweiser Clydesdales</span> Anheuser-Busch promotional horse teams

The Budweiser Clydesdales are a group of Clydesdale horses used for promotions and commercials by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. There are several "hitches" or teams of horses, that travel around the United States and other countries that remain in their official homes at the company headquarters at the Anheuser-Busch brewery complex in St. Louis, Missouri, or at Merrimack, New Hampshire. At St. Louis, they are housed in a historic brick and stained-glass stable built in 1885. There are eight horses driven at any one time, but ten horses are on each team to provide alternates for the hitch when needed. Assorted Clydesdales are also used as animal actors in television commercials for Budweiser beer, particularly in Super Bowl ads.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is a Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium and is the largest brewer in the world. In 2023, the company was ranked 72nd in the Forbes Global 2000. Additionally, AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters in São Paulo, London, St. Louis, Mexico City, Bremen, Johannesburg, and others. It has approximately 630 beer brands in 150 countries.

Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.

"Hey Kid, Catch!" is a television commercial for Coca-Cola starring Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle "Mean" Joe Greene. The commercial debuted on October 1, 1979, and was re-aired multiple times, most notably during Super Bowl XIV in 1980. The 60-second commercial won a Clio Award for being one of the best television commercials of 1979.

"Dilly Dilly" is a phrase popularized in late 2017 by a television marketing campaign in North America by the Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency for Anheuser-Busch Inbev's Bud Light beer. The campaign was launched in August 2017 with the ad entitled "Banquet" and set in medieval times. It became a catchphrase and resulted in increased sales, the production of further Bud Light ads broadcast during the American football playoffs and Super Bowl LII, and the popularizing of the phrase the "Pit of Misery" as well as characters such as the Bud Light King and the Bud Knight.

References

  1. Coffee, Patrick (May 5, 2017). "The Budweiser Frogs Are Back, With New Friends and a New Favorite Beer". Adweek. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  2. "Bud-weis-er': the origin story of the Super Bowl-famous Budweiser Frogs". USA Today. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  3. "1995 Super Bowl Commercial "Bud" "Weis" "er"". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 4 May 2018 via YouTube.
  4. Cross, Mary (2002). A Century of American Icons: 100 Products and Slogans from the 20th-Century Consumer Culture. Greenwood Press. pp. 197–199. ISBN   978-0313314810 . Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  5. "The List: Top five Super Bowl commercials". MSNBC. 2004-01-30. Archived from the original on 2004-02-03. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  6. "THE CHARACTER SHOP BRINGS BUD FROGS TO LIFE, TO LOVE". character-shop. Retrieved 12 Feb 2019.
  7. "Los Angeles Times Valley Edition "Frog Princess"". character-shop. Retrieved 12 Feb 2019.
  8. "BUDWEISER FROGS SUPERBOWL Commercial". Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 4 May 2018 via YouTube.
  9. Hacker, George A. (May 16, 1996). "Statement - Press Conference on Alcohol Advertising Reforms". Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) - Alcohol Policies Project. Archived from the original on 2010-11-23.
  10. "Budweiser's Frogs Beat Out Smokey in Study of Kids". The San Francisco Chronicle. 1996-04-25.
  11. "Marketing alcohol to youth". www.traumaf.org.
  12. "MADD Blasts Budweiser's Bullfrog Ads". Los Angeles Times . Associated Press. September 14, 1996. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  13. Jean, Al (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Springfield Files" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  14. "Casper: A Spirited Beginning - Bulldozer scene". You Tube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  15. "SportsNation's Michelle Beadle Spoofs Super Bowl Ads". January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.