View source for Bud Bowl

{{Short description|Super Bowl advertising campaign}}
[[File:BudBowltitlecard.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Bud Bowl Logo]]
The '''Bud Bowl''' was a [[stop motion]] [[animation|animated]] [[Super Bowl advertising]] campaign first aired in 1989, and sporadically during the 1990s. It served as an advertisement for [[Anheuser-Busch]]'s [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser]] family of [[beer]]s. It featured [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphized]] Budweiser [[beer bottle|bottles]] playing a [[American football|football]] game against [[Bud Light]] bottles.

==History==

Bud Bowl I was aired in 1989 during the telecast of [[Super Bowl XXIII]]. It was originally created in the D'arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Account Service Dept by Tom Gooch and Rich Lalley who were looking for a way to strategically be involved with the Super Bowl. David Henke and Bill Oakley of D'arcy Masius Benton & Bowles were the creative team behind the original Bud Bowl. The [[3D computer graphics]] promotional spots preceding the game commercials were made by San Francisco Production Group. The stop-motion filming process was painstaking, involving eight hours of work to produce just three seconds of footage.<ref name=notso>[http://deadspin.com/5139483/not+so+secret-origin-of-the-bud-bowl-including-surprise-alternate-ending?autoplay=true Not-So-Secret Origin Of The Bud Bowl, Including Surprise, Alternate Ending]</ref>  Bud Bowl II was shot with [[stop motion animation]] by Broadcast Arts in NYC. [[Bud Ice]] and [[Bud Dry]] would make appearances in later Bud Bowls.  Beer bottles with the voices of [[Terry Bradshaw]] and [[Tom Landry]] (the latter of which was topped with Landry's distinctive [[fedora (hat)|fedora]]) also made appearances. It has been jokingly said{{by who|date=August 2019}} that the Bud Bowl was actually more exciting than the Super Bowl itself in some years. Starting with the fourth edition, a consumer contest was tied to the commercials, with game pieces distributed in the product packaging. Gambling on the outcome of the Bud Bowl was also common, despite the fact that some people knew the results before the actual airing.{{cn|date=August 2011}}

In later years, Bud Bowl was retained as an advertising promotion, but in different forms. Beginning with the fifth edition, the bottles were transitioned to [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] by [[Pacific Data Images]] (later PDI/DreamWorks). In the sixth edition, the CGI bottles however were done by [[Boss Film Studios]]. In 1996, it served as a contest only. Game pieces with football plays written on it were distributed, and viewers with the winning play on their piece won. By 1998, it was mostly removed from television. Bud Bowl was used often in static store display promotions, and/or contests. By 2002, it was attached to a series of local events, such as concerts, festivals, and "[[Block party|block parties]]," taking place at the host city of the [[Super Bowl]] in the days leading up to the game.<ref>[http://www.khou.com/news/entertainment/stories/khou040109_mh_budbowl.12654594a.html Houston Bud Bowl to feature Tim McGraw] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206213927/http://www.khou.com/news/entertainment/stories/khou040109_mh_budbowl.12654594a.html |date=February 6, 2008 }}</ref><ref>[http://sportsunleashed.wordpress.com/2006/01/18/bud-bowl-2006-to-be-held-at-tiger-stadium/ Bud Bowl 2006 to be Held at Tiger Stadium] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412074620/http://sportsunleashed.wordpress.com/2006/01/18/bud-bowl-2006-to-be-held-at-tiger-stadium/ |date=April 12, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=All News Releases and Press Releases from PR Newswire |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/news-releases-list/?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/01-11-2008/0004735086&EDATE= |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=prnewswire.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Results==
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! Bud<br />Bowl
! Super<br />Bowl
! Year
! Score
! Announcer(s)
! Coaches
! Notes
|-
| Bud Bowl I || [[Super Bowl XXIII|XXIII]] || 1989 || Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 || [[Bob Costas]] & [[Paul Maguire]] || || An alternate ending of the first Bud Bowl was a cutaway to the movie [[Heidi (1968 film)|''Heidi'']]. This was a reference to the [[Heidi Game]].<ref name=notso/> Another alternate ending was an incident where 2 players were picked up by a man from the fridge, abruptly ending the game at 24-24.
|-
| Bud Bowl II || [[Super Bowl XXIV|XXIV]] || 1990 || Budweiser 36, Bud Light 34 || [[Brent Musburger]] & [[Terry Bradshaw]]|| The Bud Light coach was an impersonation of [[Bear Bryant]]. || At the end of the "game", the slogan "Nothing Beats a Bud" was unveiled.
|-
| Bud Bowl III || [[Super Bowl XXV|XXV]] || 1991 || Bud Light 23, Budweiser 21 || [[Keith Jackson]] & [[Don Meredith]] with [[Chris Berman]] || || Bud Bowl III was actually between Budweiser vs Bud Light with Bud Dry as their star QB for Bud Light. The end of the game was a parody of [[The Play (American football)|The Play]] from the 1982 [[Big Game (American football)|Big Game]].
|-
| Bud Bowl IV || [[Super Bowl XXVI|XXVI]] || 1992 || Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 || [[Chris Berman]] |||| Unlike previous Bud Bowls, this one featured a man looking for his ticket, which his wife had tossed in the trash.
|-
| Bud Bowl V || [[Super Bowl XXVII|XXVII]] || 1993 || Budweiser 35, Bud Light 31 || [[Ahmad Rashad]] & [[Karen Duffy]] || [[Joe Namath]] was the coach of the Budweiser team, and [[Corbin Bernsen]] was the coach of the Bud Light team. ||
|-
| Bud Bowl VI || [[Super Bowl XXVIII|XXVIII]] || 1994 || Bud Light 20, Budweiser 14 || [[Marv Albert]] ||[[Mike Ditka]] was the coach of Budweiser team, and [[Bum Phillips]] was coach of the Bud Light team. || Bud Bowl VI featured the first appearance by a ''can of beer'' in the game. The can scored a touchdown, but was ejected from the Bud Bowl shortly thereafter for excessive celebration and foul language.  
|-
| Bud Bowl VII || [[Super Bowl XXIX|XXIX]] || 1995 || Budweiser 26, Bud Light 24 || [[Chris Berman]] || ||
|-
| Bud Bowl 8 || [[Super Bowl XXXI|XXXI]] || 1997 || Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 || [[Howie Long]] & [[Ronnie Lott]] || ||
|}

== In popular culture ==
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Lisa the Greek]]", the "[[Duff Beer|Duff Bowl]]" is shown.
* [[Super Bowl counterprogramming|During halftime]] of Super Bowls XXVIII through XXX (1994–1996), ''[[Beavis and Butt-head]]'' specials known as ''Butt Bowl I'', ''Butt Bowl II'', and ''Butt Bowl III'' were aired.
* The song "Nerd Alert!" by American band [[The Aquabats]] references the games with the lyric "Get stupid on your time / Get the Bud Bowl off the air".
* [[Reason.tv]] parodied the FDA's ban on Four Loko and caffeinated alcoholic drinks with ''Buzz Bowl I: Four Loko vs Joose.''
* During Episode 29 of [[Earwolf|Sklarbro Country]], [[The Sklar Brothers]] discuss [[Jon Bon Jovi]] expressing interest in becoming part owner of the [[Atlanta Falcons]]. Claiming, "It's a sports disaster on par with the Bud Bowl VI, the worst of the Bud Bowls. They came back strong the next year, but that was a down year for them."
* An early 90s episode of ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' featured a parody of the Bud Bowl animation by instead portraying it merely with rows of actual beer bottles lined up in front of each other, then being smashed across the playing field floor with a large shop broom.
* In [[Noah Baumbach]]’s 1995 debut film ''[[Kicking and Screaming (1995 film)|Kicking and Screaming]]'', a character named Otis asks his roommate, “Who won Bud Bowl II?”
* In an episode of ''[[MADtv]]'', a claymated parody of the advertisements known as ''Vud Bowl V'' is shown, with every "Vud" and "Vud Light" bottle on the field ending up smashed all over the ground just after kickoff.

{{Portal|1990s}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Super Bowl commercials}}

[[Category:Anheuser-Busch advertising]]
[[Category:Super Bowl commercials]]
[[Category:1989 introductions]]
[[Category:1997 disestablishments in the United States]]