A Wren Says

Years ago, Budweiser put out what will be referred to their Wassup ad. Released during the 2000 Super Bowl coverage, it shows a group of friends communicating with each other on the phone simply saying Wassup. It became a cultural phenomenon. (Just imagine the pain of a middle school teacher having to deal with all the 6-7 banter. Replace that with all of the kids saying, “Wassssssssupppp,” at every possible moment.)

8 years later, it became a part of a different cultural shift.

The brain behind the ad, George Stone, reassembled the actors with a purpose. The view would see these iconic men with the backdrop of how the then current Bush administration had failed them. Stock market crashes, medical debt, the lingering Iraqi war, and home foreclosure were evidence that the last 8 years were not so good to them. And presumably, the viewer would be able to relate.

By connecting key pop culture characters to the moment, the ad set up the Obama campaign as the solution.

Today I learned that that ad led to special commendation at Cannes. But beyond that, Obama for America won two Cannes Lions awards in 2009 for the innovative way the campaign approached advertising. It was a way of marking the innovation of the campaign that created a movement.