Often called by different names such as Wassup, Wazzup, Whassup and Whazup, these were a series of Anheuser-Busch Budweiser beer commercials. The original Whassup ads ran through 2002. The first spot aired during Monday Night Football on December 20, 1999. Its signature catch phrase became a joke talked about on talk shows, parodied on Web sites and in films and TV shows, and came up in songs. It was also mimicked in non-Budweiser commercials.
The commercials were based on the short film True by Charles Stone III that featured him and childhood friends talking on the phone and saying “whassup?” to one another in a comical way. The film became popular at film festivals around the U.S. The Chicago-based ad agency DDB took the idea to Anheuser-Busch who signed Stone to direct Budweiser TV commercials based on the film.
The Whassup? campaign won nearly every award in advertising including the prestigious international Cannes Grand Prix award and the Grand Clio award. The ad campaign was inducted into the CLIO Hall of Fame in May 2006.
The Original 1999 “WHAAASSSSUP!?” Commercial
The December 1999 Wazzup commercial centered around an innocent phone exchange between four friends with the phrase “Watching the game, havin’ a Bud.”
Super Bowl XXXIV Whassup Ad
Super Bowl 2000 saw one 30-second ad named Whassup Girlfriend. The Anheuser-Busch commercial aired right after halftime.
This Budweiser TV Commercial was titled WHASSUP WASABI and was done by DDB Chicago. It was released in the January 2000.