A Meeting of the Minds for Budweiser

Advertiser: Anheuser-Busch

Agency: DDB Needham, Chicago

Challenge: Put a fresh spin on Anheuser-Busch’s “This Bud’s for you” campaign.

The Ad: At a meeting of the fictitious World Telekinesis Federation, three dark-suited men do their stuff in a dimly lit auditorium. A wild-haired man uses mind control to bend the prongs of a fork. A second man raises a manhole cover. The next man uses telekinesis to open a bottle of Budweiser and pour the beer into a glass. The crowd gives the man a standing ovation, but the beer disappears. A man in the audience with a content expression evidently used mind control to drink the Bud.

Comment: Budweiser has been portrayed as the beer for regular guys. But not in this spot. The audience is made up of offbeat characters sporting goatees, dark coats and fur clothing. It’s a safe bet that this spot won’t appeal to kids as strongly as the controversial Budweiser frogs and lizards do. But it is probably also safe to say that the Telekinesis Federation won’t force Louie the Lizard to retire. $$$