# Budweiser 'Whassup?!'

> Budweiser turned a phone greeting into an ad campaign that won Cannes in 2000.

- Owner: Budweiser / Anheuser-Busch
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Food & beverage
- Seed date: 1999-12-25
- Milestone date: By end of Jun 2000
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 38 (Niche, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Catchphrase, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Budweiser adapted Stone's short into paid TV spots. Web parodies and Scary Movie carried the greeting beyond the ads. A UK novelty single reused it, and Budweiser later revived the format.

## Timeline

- 1999-12-25 — Budweiser / DDB Chicago (TV) — Budweiser aired Stone's True adaptation; NYT dated its debut to Christmas Day, later accounts to December 20.
- 2000-01-30 — Budweiser (TV) — Budweiser paid to air the figure-skating girlfriend variant during Super Bowl XXXIV.
- 2000-04-27 — Wired (Open web) — Wired covered AP's copyright threat against Bonner's GeoCities parody and the ensuing email complaints.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/budweiser-whassup

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Budweiser 'Whassup?!'.” Case HIS-01494. Spread Score v1.3: 38/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01494