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Featured era: 2000
Wassup
“Watching the game, havin' a Bud.”
- Featured era
- 2000
- Peak era
- 2000-2001
- Company
- DDB Chicago / Budweiser
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
Budweiser's "Whassup?" ad
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- simongir
- Added:
- September 30, 2006
- Length:
- 1:01
More Videos4 videos
What Was It?
Whassup? was a Budweiser campaign that turned a drawn-out "what's up" into a worldwide catchphrase. It grew out of True, a short film by director Charles Stone III in which he and his childhood friends greet each other on the phone with comical cries of "Whassup?". Vinny Warren, a creative at the agency DDB Chicago, pitched the idea, and Anheuser-Busch licensed it. Warren added the reply "Watching the game, havin' a Bud."
Stone directed the ad with nearly the same cast. It first aired in December 1999 and ran again during Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000.
It spread far beyond television. Warren later recalled that the ad travelled the world by email, and that when he went home to Galway in March 2000, people were already shouting it at each other. It won the Cannes Grand Prix and the Grand Clio.
Things You Probably Forgot
- "True", the short film that started it all
- The alien who brought "Whassup" back to his mothership
- The "Scary Movie" parody
- Thierry Henry's "Whassup" goal celebration
The Story
- 1999 The first Whassup? ad aired during Monday Night Football in December.
- 2000 It aired after the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show and spread around the world by email.
- 2006 The campaign was inducted into the CLIO Hall of Fame.
Its Legacy
The original ad lives on through YouTube uploads like this 2006 copy. Its catchphrase outlasted the campaign, and Budweiser brought it back in 2020 with "Checking in, that's Whassup".
Memories
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