Budweiser
Wassup
DDB Chicago
‘Wasssssuuuuuppppppp’ is a word that defines an era. To a certain demographic, the sound of it immediately provokes a smile. The expression came to prominence in True, a series of U.S. TV ads for Budweiser. The ads star a group of friends hanging out and chatting on phones, all of whom greet each other with the word ‘Wassup’. It’s a simple premise that produced a set of films that are charming, warm and funny. The first spot aired on Christmas Eve in 1999, but the ad truly took off when it was shown during the Superbowl (an event that is watched keenly for its ads as well as the football, with brands seeing the game’s massive audience as an excellent opportunity to launch major new campaigns) in January 2000.
‘At first I was really reluctant, because I figured they’d dilute it, and want to change the cast. Then my lawyer said, “If you don’t do it, then they’re probably going to try and do it anyway, and make something worse than what you’ve created.”’
The concept had been in gestation long before then, however, as Wassup’s director, Charles Stone III, first conceived it as a short film back in the mid-1990s. Stone had carved out a career directing music videos, but was keen to move into feature films; he began writing short film ideas to help make this happen. All in the Family, which became the first Budweiser ad, was Stone’s first narrative film with dialogue. Written in 1995, it was shot towards the end of 1997, but wasn’t finished until 1998, when he sent it to various short film festivals. The film immediately caused a stir, and off the back of its success Stone was signed up to direct his first feature, Paid In Full. It was at this point that Budweiser became interested.
‘While I was in production for Paid In Full, in the fall of 1999, I had a call from my commercials rep, who said that DDB Chicago had seen my short and wanted to turn it into a commercial campaign,’ says Stone. ‘At first I was really reluctant, because I figured they’d dilute it, and would want to change the cast. Then my lawyer said, “If you don’t do it, then they’re probably going to try and do it anyway, and make something worse than what you’ve created.” So I agreed to come on board with the stipulation that I direct all the spots, and I consult on the scripts. Budweiser paid me a flat fee for owning the idea for five years.’
‘We shot five spots in the fall of 1999,’ Stone continues. ‘It was a really fast turnaround. We did a 60-second version, three 30-second ones and one 15-second spot. The 60-second spot was a replica of the short film; the only thing that was different is when the guys in the Budweiser spot say, “Yo, what’s up, D?”, and he replies “nothing, just watching a game, having a Bud”. In the original, he said “nothing, just chilling”.’
01 Page from the script for All in the Family, the short film by director Charles Stone III which inspired the Budweiser Wassup ad. The script features notes by Stone.
02-03 Stills from All in the Family. The same actors went on to appear in the Budweiser ads, including the director, Charles Stone III, shown top.
04 Script for one of the Budweiser ads, titled What’s Up Bud, showing notes for the director. The script features photocopied stills from the ad.
05-06 Stills from All in the Family, Charles Stone III’s short film that inspired the Budweiser campaign.
‘Even though I owned the idea, there were still those wonderfully, sometimes ridiculously, absurd little pointers and suggestions and concerns that the client will have.’
As Stone had feared, initially the agency wanted to explore using a different cast for the ad version of the film. The original, all-black, cast consisted of a group of friends of Stone’s, as well as the director himself. ‘The casting process in the beginning was very funny,’ he remembers. ‘We did three days of looking at everybody and anybody under the sun. Obviously, the quiet mandate came down that we should open it up culturally and put some white folks in there – usually it’s the other way around.… But we did, we looked at a lot of folks; we probably saw over 300 guys.
On the last day it was suggested that the original cast come in, so we could see what the difference was. So they came in, and I sat in with them, just because I was there. We did it, and immediately the agency responded, “We should just stick with the original cast, the chemistry is obviously there, and anybody else feels like they’re forcing it.” And I thought, “yeah, no shit”.’
Despite being reunited with the original cast, the experience of shooting the ad proved to be slightly different to that of the short. ‘When you’re shooting with your buddies, when it’s just your film and you don’t have clients and everyone around, it’s easier,’ says Stone. ‘You can breathe creatively. Even in this situation, regardless of me owning the idea, there were still those wonderfully, sometimes ridiculously, absurd little pointers and suggestions and concerns that the client will have. A good one is that in the original film I’m lying down on the bed watching television, and the only light that’s illuminating my face is the TV light. One of their concerns was that the room should be bright, because the idea of you in a dark room watching television connotes that you have a drinking problem and you’re depressed. Then it was, “You shouldn’t really be lying down, because that could suggest you’re drunk; you should be sitting upright.” These were some of the concerns that made the process a little more stiff. But for the most part it worked out fine.’
Once the ads broke, the cast, including Stone, became famous. This led to some bizarre occurrences for the director, including having Dustin Hoffman call him up to congratulate him on the ad, and making appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Jay Leno’s show, and the Today Show. ‘We hit all the major Americana benchmarks of pop art,’ says Stone. Not all the attention was quite so welcome, though. ‘I had to avoid going to sports bars and events because people would scream that thing at me. Literally, people would drive by in a car and scream it. It’s not like women were screaming because I’m a sexy man, or people were cheering me on because I won the World Series, it’s people yelling “Wassup!” at me. It was a very bizarre form of adulation.’
07-09 Stills from the Obama Change film, directed by Charles Stone III. The film showed the characters from the Budweiser Wassup ads eight years later, and in a far bleaker situation. Stone retained the rights to the characters in the ads, so was able to use them in the political film without facing opposition from Budweiser.
10 Page from the script for the Obama Change film, featuring notes by Stone.
‘Because these guys are as Americana as apple pie or baseball, it’s funny to be able to use them to make a political statement on change. It’s personally gratifying to me on that level.’
Riding on the success of the campaign, Budweiser and DDB Chicago continued to produce more spots in the series, with Stone’s approval and involvement. However, the concept eventually began to be drained dry. The major turning point for Stone was when the agency proposed a set of scripts featuring aliens and talking animals saying ‘Wassup’. ‘At that point I had a conference call with the agency and Budweiser and said, “I think what we’re doing here is making it into something that it’s not”,’ Stone says. ‘I said, if you want to do that, do that with Bud Lite, but this whole True campaign has got its own charm.’ The agency went ahead regardless without Stone’s involvement, and then the campaign eventually petered out.
For most ads, this would be the end of the story. Yet the short film that Stone had first created in 1995 ended up having a third lease of life in 2008. While people had suggested that the director resurrect the idea in some form over the years, he was reluctant until Barack Obama began his presidency run. ‘I knew I wanted to do something,’ Stone says. ‘I wanted to make a film, but I also knew that whatever I was going to do couldn’t get lost in the ether of the internet – it had to be something identifiable. That’s when I knew I should just bring back the Wassup guys and use that.’
Stone brainstormed with a group of friends to define what the new film’s storyline should be. The final film closely echoes the original short and the True campaign, but reflects life in America at the end of George W. Bush’s presidency. The actors all came back to star in it once more, but this time, rather than being a group of carefree friends, they are used as props to reflect some of the crises of the era: one character calls in from Iraq, where he is stationed as a soldier; another is shown in the midst of a hurricane, reminiscent of Katrina; a third is shown watching an ever tumbling stock market on a laptop. The camaraderie and humour remain, but the ‘Wassup’ is more a cry for help than of greeting. The spot ends with B, Stone’s character, watching Obama appear on the television, and delivers the altered endline: ‘Change. That’s what’s up’. Due to Stone’s initial contract with Budweiser, the rights to the story and characters had reverted to him, allowing him to make the new film, though he was careful to include an end panel to state that Anheuser-Busch, who own the Budweiser brand, had no involvement in it.
The Obama Change film was a huge success online, and completed a circle in the life of the original short film for Stone. ‘It maintained the truth of the spot,’ says Stone. ‘People could say that I sold out because I did this whole thing to promote beer, and that’s very true. But when the Obama thing happened, that’s what compelled me to resurrect it. I felt 100 per cent compelled to make a short with these guys for this cause. And the thing that was really magical about it was that it was literally eight years later – meaning the Bush period of the presidency. It was “okay, where are these guys now?”. It made total sense, and because these guys are as Americana as apple pie or baseball, it’s funny to be able to use them to make a political statement on change. It’s personally gratifying to me on that level.’