TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots - Whassup! Guys -(Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser)

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.

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