An Early Ad That Resonated

Bud-wei-ser.  A three syllable sentence that has resonated with me for over 15 years.  Without looking it up, I couldn't for the life of me tell you what two teams were playing in what Super Bowl.  But I can tell you the first advertisement I truely remember seeing was the Budweiser three frog Super Bowl commercial when each of them were able to mutter a syllable of the Budweiser name.  I know, pretty big throwback right?  But when I was laying around really concentrating to remember what the first ad I ever saw was, this one reached the furthest back.  I took the liberty upon myself to look it up, and that commercial aired during Super Bowl XXIX.  As it turns out, it was one of the most historic Super Bowls of all time....figures.  Steve Young threw a record 6 touchdown passes and after the 49ers won, they became the first franchise to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy 5 times.  However, I was only 6 at the time, so I can't blame myself for not remembering the game.  It is pretty stunning, however, that I can remember one of the ads during the game. 

The commercial is pretty basic in itself, theres a link on the bottom to check it out.  But the only words spoken during the commercial are "Budweiser".  Breaking down why I think it had an impact on myself and why I have remembered it all these years, there are a couple reasons that jump out.  Right off the bat, this commercial aired during a Super Bowl around the age where I really started getting into sports.  I can remember sitting around with my dad and his friends wacthing football and having a great time even as a kid, so clearly those memories are still pretty concrete.  Also the commercial itself was a great hit.  I can remeber after the game people going around trying to mimic the frogs from the ad for weeks.  The simplicity of the ad is another reason the frogs commercial has been one of my all time favorites.  No actors were hired, it wasn;t trying to be over the top funny, it jsut wanted to stick to people, and it clearly did. 

I have to applaud Budweiser's marketing effort through sports, and especially the National Football League.  They got me early.  To the day Budweiser is the beer is prefer when watching either the Hokies on Friday, or the Jets on Sunday (as rough as it is).  Please check out the commercial below, if you haven't seen the ad.