Advertising / Budweiser Frogs

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In 1995, an ad directed by Gore Verbinski aired during the Super Bowl featuring three realistic puppet frogs created by Stan Winston in a swamp croaking the syllables "Bud", "Weis", and "Er" respectively. Eventually, they start to synchronize their croaks to form "Budweiser", before cutting to a shot revealing the frogs looking at a big neon sign for the very brand of beer that they're uttering the name of together.

The ad was successful enough that the frogs would become recurring characters in Budweiser ads getting into various antics. With animatronic effects being taken over by Rick Lazzarini.

An overarching narrative would begin with a 1997 Super Bowl ad introducing Frank and Louie, two chameleons who reside in the same swamp as the frogs, and once auditioned for the original commercial; Frank is calm, rational and okay with the frogs getting the role, whereas Louie is bitter, envious and determined to make them pay. In 1998, Louie hired a ferret as a hitman in an attempt to assassinate the frogs, which unfortunately failed.

Partly due to controversy over children recognizing the characters, and partly due to simply wanting to shake things up, Budweiser would eventually phase out the frogs after a series of 1999 Super Bowl ads where Louie, having replaced the middle frog Weis after the latter was incapacitated as a result of the assassination attempt, ends up getting them all fired, leading to the ferret taking his place. Louie, Frank and the ferret would continue to appear in ads in the early 2000s, even having a few where Louie shifts his focus towards the then-concurrent Wazzup ad, before being phased out as well.

The frogs would see a very brief return in 2017 to advertise Bud Light being brought over to the United Kingdom, this time featuring a smaller, blue CGI frog in place of Weis.

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The advertising campaign provides examples of:

• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: One ad during Louie's brief stint replacing Weis has him smack Er with his tongue in lieu of saying his lines. Later after they all get fired, Bud and Er do the same to him in retaliation.
• Asshole Victim: After Louie tries to murder the frogs and eventually gets them fired, Bud and Er promptly smack him repeatedly with their tongues.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Louie briefly replaces the middle frog Weis and does a very poor job at it. He overexaggerates his line delivery, fails to stay in sync with the other frogs, and eventually resorts to bashing Er with his tongue instead of sticking to the script; it doesn't take long for him to get fired.
• The Bad Guy Wins: If we consider Louie a villain, that is. He wanted him and Frank to replace the frogs, which ended up happening eventually as the frogs were phased out and Louie and Frank became the Budweiser lizards for a few years before being dropped themselves.
• Bond One-Liner: When Louie carries out his murder attempt on the frogs and gets them electrocuted, he utters that "eventually, every frog has to croak". The next ad after this shows the frogs survived, however.
• Career-Ending Injury: After getting electrocuted, Weis starts to experience muscle spasms that render him unable to act and ends up having his role replaced by Louie. In 2017, Weis implicitly still hasn't recovered, as he's been replaced by a new frog.
• Distaff Counterpart: In one commercial, Bud falls in love with a female frog named Weis (not to be confused with the regular Weis), and then says "Er" at the end once meeting her, a variation of the usual setup.
• Didn't Think This Through: After firing Louie and the frogs, Budweiser briefly hires the Ferret to replace them. Due to the Ferret being The Unintelligible, it doesn't work out all too well, even after they try giving him a teleprompter.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Louie is envious of the frogs due to their roles as Budweiser mascots, which he and Frank had previously auditioned for themselves. The eventually leads to Louie hiring the Ferret to try and dispose of the frogs so he can take their spot.
• Harmless Electrocution: Subverted. The Ferret drops the neon Budweiser sign into the pond to electrocute the frogs, and while the ad directly after this seemingly shows all three of them coming out of it unscathed at first, a later ad reveals Weis has started experiencing muscle spasms due to the incident and can't act as a result.
• Insult Backfire: After Louie's attempt to murder the frogs and Weis develops his tic, he brags about how he's going to be the replacement to Frank. After Frank reminds Louie he only go the part because he tried to kill them with the Ferret's assistance, Louie only adds that he paid for it with his own money.
• Insult Friendly Fire: At one point while heckling the frogs, Louie calls their mother an iguana. Frank points out his own mother is half-iguana, leading Louie to apologize.
• Lame Rhyme Dodge: One ad leading up to the 1998 Super Bowl ads has Louie accidentally revealing that he plans to assassinate the frogs to Frank before quickly backpedaling and instead saying he's going to "congratulate" them. Frank's not convinced.
• Multipurpose Tongue: Bud uses his tongue in one ad to grab onto a Budweiser truck. A later ad has Bud and Er attacking Louie with their tongues for getting them fired.
• Oh, Crap!: Bud croaks out a dumbfounded "Bud?!" just before the neon Budweiser sign drops into the pond and zaps the frogs.
• Old Shame: One ad features a Parody Commercial for an album of the Ferret performing various songs, including a duet with Louie called Salamander Serenade that the latter seems to regret participating in.
  Frank: When did you do that?
  Louie: I was young, okay? We make mistakes!
• Pokémon Speak: The three frogs, Bud, Weis, and Er, only say their own respective names, the three syllables in Budweiser. At least, up until they get fired, where they reveal they were reading from a script.
• Predator-Prey Friendship: One ad shows a big alligator, whom normally feast on amphibians among other small creatures, working together with the frogs to snag a crate of Budweiser beers.
  • Ironically, in an episode of The Simpsons, the frogs are eaten by an alligator that goes "Coors".
  • In another ironic twist, that ad made use of a song by Bob Marley, who abstained from alcohol as part of following Rastafari.
• Put on a Bus: The middle frog Weis disappears from the ads after being paralyzed by electrocution, his role being replaced by Louie. Later, a few ads after getting fired, the other two frogs Bud and Er stop appearing as well. In the 2017 Bud Light ad, Weis is replaced by a blue CGI tree frog, as he's presumably still indisposed.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The two chameleons; Louie is the rowdy, abrasive red, and Frank is the calm, stoic blue.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Louie is a resentful chameleon who constantly heckles the frogs and swears revenge on them for taking the role he wanted as Budweiser's spokesman, eventually trying to assassinate them by hiring the Ferret to help him.
• Restrained Revenge: Louie tries to kill the frogs, one suffering a nervous breakdown and muscle spasms causing him to need to be replaced, causing them to eventually be fired, and smacking Er with his tongue. After they're all fired, they get revenge not by trying to kill him but slapping him with their tongues and telling him to stop complaining when he tells them to stop. That would be their last appearance until 2017.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Louie and Frank become the main focus of the ads not long after their introduction, eventually leading to the frogs vanishing from the ads entirely.
• Suddenly Speaking: The frogs cut the act after Louie breaks the news to them that they've been fired, much to the latter's shock.
  Louie: Okay, freeze the swamp! You guys can talk?!
  Bud: Of course we can talk, ya bonehead.
  Louie: But all you said was "bud" and "er"!
  Bud: We were reading from the script. You should try it sometime.
• Talking Animal: Most of the animals that appear in the ads are this, the main exception being the Ferret, who's The Unintelligible. Weis, who was written off before the frogs revealed they could speak, is never heard breaking from his Pokémon Speak.
• Tempting Fate: After Louie and the Frogs get fired, Frank tries to assure his friend that it could be worse. When Louie asks how, Budweiser announces its new mascot- the Ferret!
  Frank: I think it just got worse.
• Tongue on the Flagpole: In one ad, the frogs get their tongues stuck to a very cold can of Budweiser in the middle of a blizzard in the swamp.
• What Were They Selling Again?: At one point, Frank watches Louie bickering with Bud and Er and asks himself, "How is this supposed to sell beer?"

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