Whassup!
Guys - Group of four 'Everymen' who greet each other
with exuberant
exchanges of
"Whassup!" in a series of
successful Budweiser commercial first seen during the Super Bowl
in 2000.
The commercial (rated
by USA Today's Admeter as the Superbowl's most popular)
showcased the male bonding
between four
middle-class black males
who shared not only their friendship, but their favorite beer:
namely, Budweiser.
Described as a "verbal high-five," or the "verbal equivalent of
the chest bump." the delivery style of the Whassup phrase varied
from a shrill banshee cry to a slow, smooth mumble. The
tongue-waging guys who starred as the "Whassup Guys" in the TV
spots
were director, Charles
Stone III, 34, and his three real-life best friends - actor Paul
Williams, 32; bouncer, Scott Brooks, 36, and filmmaker, Fred
Thomas, 30. According to Charles Stone III, the director and
costar of the award winning Budweiser commercials, the preferred
pronunciation is "Whaazzaaah?!!" rendered with tongue
dangling, just about to the floor. Fred Thomas suggested you
just need to "relax the throat and extend the tongue. 'You know,
it's like, whassup?'" The Whassup commercial campaign began life
in 1998 as a two-minute black and white film made by Stone,
called True. that chronicled a longtime circle of
Philadelphia friends including Thomas, Brooks and Williams who
were just hangin' out watching sports on television and tossin'
round words like "True" and "Whassup!" As Stone recalled "We
used to call each other on the phone 15 years ago, during our
college years, and that was our greeting."
|
Williams: |
Ay, who,
whassup? |
|
Stone: |
Nothin', B,
watchin' the game, havin' a Bud. Whassup wit'chu?
|
|
Williams: |
Nothin',
watchin' the game, havin' a Bud. |
|
Stone: |
True, true. |
|
-- excerpt
from "Whassup" TV spot |
When it came time to cast the parts
for the TV commercials, hundreds of actors were auditioned, but,
in the end, Thomas, Brooks and Williams were hired to play
themselves. Basically, the original Whassup? ad is a 60-second
version of Stone's film "True." The Whassup "True" spot garnered
both a Grand Clio at the 41st Annual Clio TV and Radio Gala, as
well as the Grand Prix, the granddaddy of all advertising
awards, at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes,
France in June, 2000. The Budweiser Whassup adverts also
inspired legions of parodies including skits on SATURDAY NIGHT
LIVE, and cameos in the horror spoof Scary Movie (2002).
The phrase was even adopted as an NBA player mantra, "Whassup?"
And, in what was called a "respectful homage," the Goodby,
Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco who produced the Louie the
Lizard commercials for Budweiser, created three spots that
poked fun at the "Whassup" campaign created by their rivals at
DDB Worldwide ad agency and aired during the National Basketball
Association finals on NBC. In one spot Louie accuses the "Whassup?!"
actor of stealing his "tongue moves" while type appears on the
screen asking, "Coincidence?" In another spot, straight-lizard
Frank declares Louie's "Whassup?!" interpretation a "new low."
And in a third, Louie pressures Frank to try saying "Whassup?!"
Once Frank tries, Louie says, "You stink, that's Whassup." (Advertising
Age: May 29, 2000: "Whassup? Bud agencies exchange beer
barbs").
The Whassup adverts were created by
the Chicago-based DDB Worldwide ad agency who saw Stone's short
two-minute film True and pitched the idea for a TV
commercial to their Budweiser clients. The success of the
Whassup" campaign ("Whassup True," "Whassup Wasabi," "Whassup
Call Waiting" and "Whassup Pizza Guy.") gave the Whassup guys –
Scott Brooks, Paul William and Fred Thomas – the chance to
travel the world promoting Anheuser-Busch and the commercial
that made them famous. The commercial spots was reportedly
translated into more than 36 languages, including Russian,
Serbian, Chinese, Fijian, Scottish, Maori, Danish, Dutch,
Vietnamese, Nepalese, Farsi, Hindu, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew and
Inooktatut Inuit. The Budweiser Whassup campaign was produced
by C&C/Storm Films and directed by Charles Stone III, Sheila
Simmons executive produced. At DDB, credits go to agency group
creative director Don Pogany, agency producer Kent Kwiatt,
agency art directors Chuck Taylor and Justin Reardon, and agency
copywriters Vinny Warren and Charles Stone III. The campaign was
edited by Livio Sanchez of The Lookinglass Company, Santa
Monica, and posted at Riot, also in Santa Monica.
Eventually, like all
ubiquitous ad campaigns, the uniqueness of the Whassup TV spots
wore thin and the interest of the viewing public finally reached
the "If I hear 'Whassup!' one more time" phase. But although the
ad campaign is over, the energetic greeting has added but
another word into the pop culture lexicon of black street slang
("cool." "diss." "you go, girl" and "24/7"). For an examination
of the "Whassup" phenomenon read: "The spectacular consumption
of 'true' African American culture: "Whassup" with the Budweiser
guys?" by Eric King Watts and Mark P Orbe. Critical Studies
in Media Communication. March 2002. Vol. 19 (1) p 1-20. 
************************
Whassup!
(A short etymological study)
Through the ages advertising has
asked such important questions as "Got Milk? and "Where's the
Beef" but now for the maker of Anheuser-Busch comes the
outrageously funny and boisterously loud new advertising
catchphrase "Whassup? or the more lenghty "Whasssssuiuuuuuuuuuuuup?"
First, let's explain just what the
phrase means. Loosely translated, the phrase "Whassup!" (a
truncated form of "What is up?") means "What are you doing?" To
better explain Bob Garfield from Advertising Age (June
26, 2000) offers this interpretation: "Whassssupppppp?" doesn't
mean, "Pray, have you any news you'd care to impart?" It means,
"You are my friend, and if you are doing anything interesting --
interesting being defined as watching football and swilling beer
-- I'm in favor of doing it together."
Now that we have a handle on the meaning of "Whassup," here, for
your edification, is a short list of examples that highlight
just how the phrase is being used in popular culture.
"Whassup with
that, huh?!"
(Variation "Whassup widat?" and "What Up?") |
| "Whassup my
peeps?" |
| "Whassup,
boooy?" |
| "Whassup,
bgirl? " |
| "Whassup, yo?"
|
| "Whassup,
dawg?" |
| "Whassup
y'all, whassup? ... |
| "Whassup,
mothafucka?" (street exchange) |
| "Whassup then
nigga? (from a rap song lyric) |
| "Whassup
fool? |
| "Whassup wit
you man?" |
| "Yo man, hey,
whassup?" |
| "Yo, yo, yo,
whassup? |
| "Whassup,
Santa? (holiday greeting) |
TRIVIA NOTE: Martin Lawrence
who starred on the sitcom MARTIN/FOX/1992-97 as radio deejay
Martin Payne, routinely used the phrase "Whazz Up!" when
he greeted the listeners who phoned into his Detroit radio talk
show at station WZUP. See
Martin
Payne