The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Creative Creative Works Coronavirus

Budweiser resurrects 'Wassup?' to remind people to check-in during lockdown

Author

By Imogen Watson, Senior reporter

April 23, 2020 | 3 min read

To remind people to check in on friends and family during the lockdown period, Budweiser has revisited its iconic 'Wassup' adverts.

Whassup

Using the original cast with re-recorded audio to ensure the ad obeys the governments lockdown measures, the spot leads the viewer to believe that they are communicating with each other from quarantine.

Budweiser opted to remake the commercial, in response to the YouGov insight that found one in five Brits are living along during lockdown.

The spot aims to encourage people to think of those who might need them right now with the message: 'Buds Support Buds; Check-In On Yours.'

Using the hashtag #TogetherAtADistance, Budweiser wants to rally people to support each other and remind them that while we cannot be physically close, they can stay connected.

“Many of us across the world have had to adapt the way we live our day-to-day lives in response to the global health crisis – especially in the way we socialise. We wanted to bring a smile to people’s faces whilst also highlighting the importance of checking in with loved ones, so it made sense to revisit our iconic Whassup ad for this new purpose," explained Elise Dickinson, marketing manager for Budweiser UK.

"Budweiser has always been a part of popular culture and this work is able to bring lightness to these challenging times in a way that only Bud can – reinforcing its role of bringing friends together, though now at a distance.”

Up there in the most memorable adverts of all-time, back in 1999, it was one of the first campaigns to ever go viral, with parodies appearing across the Internet, on TV shows, and in movies. It ran worldwide until 2002.

However, this is not the first time Budweiser has honoured the classic spot. To celebrate the ads 20th-birthday last year, Bud fans created the world’s longest Whassup? chain together using Instagram stories.

Similarly, in 2018, to promote their collaboration, Burger King and Budweiser came together to recreate the iconic ad. The remake of the original commercial included a special cameo from The King himself.

Budweiser: Wassup

By Budweiser

Overall Rating 4/5

Vote now
Creative Creative Works Coronavirus

More from Creative

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +