Bud Bowl
Encyclopedia
The Bud Bowl was a stop motion
animated
Super Bowl advertising campaign first aired in 1989, and sporadically during the 1990s. It served as an advertisement for Anheuser-Busch
's Budweiser
family of beer
s. It featured Budweiser bottles playing a football
game against Bud Light bottles.
. 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. 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
) also made appearances. It has been jokingly said 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.
In later years, Bud Bowl was retained as an advertising promotion, but in different forms. 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 parties
," taking place at the host city of the Super Bowl
in the days leading up to the game.
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
Super Bowl advertising campaign first aired in 1989, and sporadically during the 1990s. It served as an advertisement for Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
's Budweiser
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
family of beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
s. It featured Budweiser bottles playing a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game against Bud Light bottles.
History
Bud Bowl I was aired in 1989 during the telecast of Super Bowl XXIIISuper Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
. David Henke and Bill Oakley of D'arcy Masius Benton & Bowles were the creative team behind the original Bud Bowl. The 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
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. 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
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday...
and Tom Landry
Tom Landry
Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...
(the latter of which was topped with Landry's distinctive fedora
Fedora (hat)
A fedora is a men's felt hat. In reality, "fedora" describes most any men's hat that does not already have another name; quite a few fedoras have famous names of their own including the famous Trilby....
) also made appearances. It has been jokingly said 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.
In later years, Bud Bowl was retained as an advertising promotion, but in different forms. 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 parties
Block party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...
," taking place at the host city of the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
in the days leading up to the game.
Results
| Bud Bowl |
Super Bowl |
Year | Score | Announcers | Coaches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bud Bowl I | XXIII Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held... |
1989 | Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 | Bob Costas Bob Costas Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:... & Paul Maguire Paul Maguire Paul Leo Maguire is a former American football player and current television sportscaster.-Early sports career:Maguire attended Ursuline High School in Youngstown,Ohio and was recruited to play at The Citadel by the late Al Davis who was then an assistant coach and chief recruiter... |
An alternate ending of the first Bud Bowl was a cutaway to the movie Heidi Heidi (1968 film) Heidi was a 1968 NBC made-for-TV film version of the original 1880 novel of the same name which debuted on November 17, 1968. It starred actress Jennifer Edwards, stepdaughter of Julie Andrews and daughter of Blake Edwards, in the title role, alongside Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, and Michael... . This was a reference to the Heidi Game Heidi Game The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders, defeated the New York Jets, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead... . |
|
| Bud Bowl II | XXIV Super Bowl XXIV Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game played on January 28, 1990 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1989 regular season... |
1990 | Budweiser 36, Bud Light 34 | Terry Bradshaw Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday... & Brent Musburger Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a... |
At the end of the "game", the slogan "Nothing Beats a Bud" was unveiled. | |
| Bud Bowl III | XXV Super Bowl XXV Super Bowl XXV was an American football game played on January 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1990 regular season. The National Football Conference Champion New York Giants defeated the American Football Conference ... |
1991 | Bud Light 23, Budweiser 21 | Don Meredith Don Meredith Joseph Don "Dandy Don" Meredith was an American football quarterback, sports commentator and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last three years as a player... , Keith Jackson Keith Jackson Keith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R... , 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 The Play The Play refers to a last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the and the Stanford University Cardinal on Saturday, November 20, 1982... , from the Cal-Stanford game in 1982. |
|
| Bud Bowl IV | XXVI Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game played on January 26, 1992 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota to decide the National Football League champion following the 1991 regular season... |
1992 | Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 | Chris Berman | ||
| Bud Bowl V | XXVII Super Bowl XXVII Super Bowl XXVII was a football game played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1992 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football Conference champion... |
1993 | Budweiser 35, Bud Light 31 | Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashād is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. An All-American running back and wide receiver from Oregon known as Bobby Moore, Rashad was the fourth overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals... & Karen "Duff" Duffy Karen Duffy Karen Duffy is an American model, television personality, and actress.-Early life:Duffy was born in New York City, the daughter of Carol, a homemaker, and Phil Duffy, a developer. She attended Park Ridge High School in Park Ridge, New Jersey, graduating in 1979... |
Joe Namath Joe Namath Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the... was the coach of the Budweiser team, and Corbin Bernsen Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is best known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, and as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych... was the coach of the Bud Light team. |
|
| Bud Bowl VI | XXVIII Super Bowl XXVIII Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game played on January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1993 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football... |
1994 | Bud Light 20, Budweiser 14 | Marv Albert Marv Albert Marv Albert is an American television and radio sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball." From 1967–2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks."Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called... |
Mike Ditka Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head... was the coach of Budweiser team, and Bum Phillips Bum Phillips Oail Andrew "Bum" Phillips is a retired American football coach and the father of Wade Phillips, the Defensive Coordinator for the Houston Texans... 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 | XXIX Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game played on January 29, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1994 regular season... |
1995 | Budweiser 26, Bud Light 24 | Chris Berman | ||
| Bud Bowl 8 | XXXI Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American... |
1997 | Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 | Howie Long Howie Long Howard "Howie" Matthew Moses Long is an American former National Football League defensive end and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000... & Ronnie Lott Ronnie Lott Ronald Mandel "Ronnie" Lott is a former American football player who starred as a cornerback, free safety, and strong safety in college football and the NFL. He is most well known for his crushing hits on opposing players... |
In popular culture
- In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Lisa the GreekLisa the Greek"Lisa the Greek" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 23, 1992. In the episode, Homer begins to bond with his daughter, Lisa, after learning her unique and convenient ability to pick winning American football...
", the "Duff BowlDuff BeerDaleside is an independent brewery founded in 1988 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.-Products:Daleside produce a wide range of beers, including Morocco Ale, a traditional spiced beer based on an Elizabethan recipe; Old Legover, a low abv Old Ale ; Monkey Wrench, a stronger Old Ale; Ripon...
" is shown. - During halftimeSuper Bowl counterprogrammingAlthough it is consistently one of the most watched sports television events in the United States, television networks and television stations channels have often attempted to counterprogram against the Super Bowl with original television programming...
of Super Bowls XXVIII through XXX (1994–1996), Beavis and Butt-headBeavis and Butt-HeadBeavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
specials known as Butt Bowl I, Butt Bowl II, and Butt Bowl III were aired. - Reason.tv parodied the FDA's ban on Four Loko and caffeinated alcoholic drinks with Buzz Bowl I: Four Loko vs Joose.