In a move that furthers my theory that eventually, all companies will be owned by two or three giant corporations, Belgian beer makers, InBev, announced that they had purchased American owned Anheiser-Busch this week for $70 a share (or about $50 billion…yes, billion with a ‘B’). Anheiser-Busch had scoffed at a previous offer, only to back pedal and fall all over themselves when the Belgians threw even more money at them. In order to stifle concerns about a foreign company owning a traditionally American company, spokesman said the headquarters will remain in St. Louis, no American breweries should be closed and 2 seats on the Board at InBev are reserved for Anheiser-Busch executives.
Should be interesting to see how the Belgians handle the Budweiser brand. Will working class Americans still drink Bud now that it’s technically a Belgian import like Stella Artois or Beck’s? Will Europeans drink the lighter, watery Bud beers despite traditionally enjoying the darker, heavier brands? It’s a risk all around for InBev, which will now be called Anheiser-Busch InBev. Nice name. More importantly, however, will the Belgians be able to continue Budweiser’s tradition of their always classic and hilarious TV advertisements? I’m concerned because the Belgians’ sense of humor is not exactly world reknowned.
In preparation for the immediate stoppage of funny Budweiser commercials, I thought I’d take a look back at some of my favorite Budweiser commercials from years past. It’s funny, doing research for this I realized there were several commercials that I thought were Bud commercials, but weren’t. There was also one I couldn’t find. It involved a guy on a date in a Chinese restaurant and he spots a hottie at another table. He proceeds to order his food loudly by entree number (because most Chinese places number their dishes) so as to spell out his phone number, “I’ll have a FIVE and another FIVE and a TWO and one of the THREE….” It was pretty funny, however I couldn’t find it.
So here are some of my favorite Bud commercials. Click the commercial titles and/or images to see them on YouTube.
Swear Jar – This is one of the more recent commercials. I think it aired two years ago during the Super Bowl. Watching people in an office cursing at every opportunity just makes me laugh. Also, watching the boss’ tirade in the meeting had me on the floor. Great commercial.
Brazilian Fighting Cockatoo – I love this commercial. I think this aired three or four years ago. It stars a fighting cockatoo bird that acts like Al Pacino in Scarface. The cockatoo actually first appeared in this commercial, where he was protecting his master’s Bud Light. I think I like the one in the bar where he’s protecting a lady from an unwanted suitor. “Step Back? I step all the way back to Hackensack, my friend!” I wonder who is doing the Al Pacino impression?
Cut the Cheese – This commercial was supposed to air during the last Super Bowl, I think, but it was cut at the last minute. I’m not sure why they didn’t show it. I think it aired the next week a few times but hasn’t been seen since. It’s actually really funny how they work in several different euphemisms throughout the commercial and I love that it takes place in a deli somewhere in New York or New Jersey. This could be a lost episode of the Sopranos.
Jackie Moon TV Spots – Earlier this year Will Ferrell did some TV spots for Bud Light in character as Jackie Moon from his movie Semi-Pro. The movie was only so-so, but this commercial spot was HILARIOUS. Here’s another one here. Semi-Pro just came out on DVD, so I may give it another chance because I didn’t think Anchorman was funny the first time but now I love it. I bet most of these tv spots were improvised. “Bud Light, Suck One”. “Bud Light. I’m horny”.
Dude – This is a simple one, but it plays on the versatility of the word ‘dude’. Very simple, yet very funny.
Apology-bot 3000 – There were a few of these Apology-bot commercials but I like this one with the guy apologizing to his girlfriend the best. I love the little balloon at the end that says “My Bad!” on it. LOL. Here’s another one set in a Japanese restaurant.
Bud Ice Penguins – Allright, I’ll end with this one. A classic from the mid-’90s, the Bud Ice Penguins. Doo-Be-Do-Be-Doooooooooo! Here’s another one. These penguins were creepy yet funny at the same time.
I found many more that I thought were hilarious but I didn’t want to go on and on. Some honorable mentions? How about Magic Fridge? Or this one featuring a mother telling her soon to be married daughter how to make her marriage last? There’s also the “WHAAAAAASUUUUUUUP” (“What Are YOU Doing!?“) series of commercials and the Real Men of Genius ads that I get so much enjoyment from (Mr Over the Top Carb Counter). Maybe I can even do a followup to this article. We’ll see.
Have a good weekend everyone. I’m off to Atlanta to join my wife at one of her friend’s wedding.
In the first three installments, I tasted and reviewed several of the traditional and more popular energy drinks. This time, however, I thought I’d try something different. I’m tasting and reviewing the newer alcoholic energy drinks that have flooded the market. In case you haven’t noticed, beer companies are releasing energy drinks with alcohol in them, some as much as 2 beers worth of alcohol. These have piqued my interest so I thought I’d give reviewing them a shot. FYI to everyone, I am of legal drinking age so no laws are getting broken. I’m just a ridiculously handsome guy, over 21, drinking energy drinks filled with taurine, vitamin B and alcohol. Let’s get started.
Bud Extra- The first drink I’ll taste is from Budweiser and it’s called “B to the E”. I’m not kidding, that’s the official title, but it has an alternate name, Bud Extra. So I’ll just pop the top and let ‘er rip. Tastes like a can of Budweiser. There might be a slight Red Bull-ish aftertaste. Interesting. I’ll continue drinking and return in an hour with my final analysis.
Well, if you’ve read this blog a few times you know I love stalking the supermarket and gas stations for awesome, awesome drinks, snacks, candy, etc. I’m always browsing gas station mini-marts, grocery stores, dollar stores, etc for new and different items that look cool. Have you noticed there are like 8 different kinds of Cheetos? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Cheetos whore. I could eat nothing all day but bags of those dangerously cheesy corn puffs. I could bathe in the cheese powder they use to flavor the Cheeto, it’s that good. I could write an entirely separate article about Cheetos flavors alone (hey, not a bad idea). But today I’ll discuss the multitude of other things I found at my local grocery just recently. There are lots of limited edition flavors of popular candy bars floating around all over the place, as well as new varieties of your favorite cereals. Here’s some cool items I’ve found in the last few weeks. I’ll show you what they are and let you know what I think of them.
Frosted Flakes Gold – Kellogg’s has decided to take their cash cow sugar infused cereal, Frosted Flakes, and transform it into something they can call healthy and still sleep at night. They have ENERGY written everywhere possible on the box, so at first glance, I thought they were jumping the “energy” craze and infusing Ginseng, Vitamin B and Taurine into the flakes. I mean, that’s what kids need, right, MORE energy? Genius. However, it looks as though this new Frosted Flakes just has whole grain flakes…and honey, nothing more. My next question is, what were these flakes before if they weren’t whole grain? Synthetic grain? Half grain? They’ve also reduced the sugar content by 1g. Yep, 10g instead of 11g. Bravo, Kellogg, for taking such a bold step in making your cereals “healthy”. Throw away that oatmeal and bran muffin. Toss those fruits and vegetables. Eat Frosted Flakes Gold for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you will live FOREVER! Hey, Kellogg’s, how is this different from the other whole grain Frosted Flakes you tried to sell in 2005 called 
Cavalcade of Awesome 
