This Budweiser Ad starts out with a man bringing home a yellow lab puppy named "Buddy." As it progresses it shows Buddy and the man playing together, going places, and in general just being together. The song that is playing in the background is called "Friends Are Waiting" by Dan Rodriguez. The pair shares a day at the park, a meal of peanut butter, a wake up call, and a trip to the lake, but towards the end, Buddy is left at home while owner goes out to drink with friends. Buddy is left by himself overnight and whimpers, waiting for his owner to come home. As he waits the screen goes black, and words come up saying "for some, the waiting never ended". Buddy continues to wait, and when his owner finally comes home, Buddy is ecstatic. The pair is united after the owner explains to the dog that he didn't want to drive home after drinking, but that he was back. As for the product placement, it was what the people were drinking at the lake and what was on the table when the pair were sharing peanut butter. Budweiser had previously used a yellow lab puppy in their 2014 Super Bowl ad, which although it wasn't the same puppy, they were from the same breeders. They produced the 60 second, digital broadcast only, ad in part with Momentum Worldwide as part of Global Be(er) Responsible Day. I personally first saw it when I was visiting Youtube one day.
The primary persuasive technique that is used in this ad is hidden fear. Everybody is afraid of losing someone they love, and it's hard to even think about it. Most of us refuse to. This ad brings into account that our human companions aren't the only ones that would be waiting for us to come home. The hidden fear is portrayed through the use of story telling. The story telling is portrayed two different ways, one is that it shows Buddy growing up, and the other is the as Buddy is growing up, the pair are going on adventures, such as the park and the lake. The story telling is effective because it goes to show how the pair has bonded over time, and how Buddy misses his owner when let alone. That's when the hidden fear comes into play, because Buddy is waiting for his owner to come home, and when the screen says "For some, the waiting never ended," the worst is thought, and it is assumed that the man is never coming back, but he does come back, and it's a happy ending for everyone.
Interpret:
Budweiser tends to associate themselves with friendship and good times in their ads, and this one was no exception. Buddy and his owner were close and they went on many adventures together. In their famous 2014 Super Bowl, also know by #bestbuds, an inseparable bond is formed between man, puppy, and Clydesdale, later following up with the puppy idea with the #friendsarewaiting ad. When they produced the video they had people aged 21-27 in mind. They wanted to target people who use social media to spread the message, leading to the trend in #friendsarewaiting on websites like twitter. The ad doesn't show any stereotypes throughout, and rather than offending someone, this ad is more likely to a make them sad, as well as rethink their actions.
One of the major strengths of this ad was the fact that it wasn't intended to scare us, it was meant to give us a different perspective, on how you effect other people. The one weakness that I noticed was the message about drunk driving wasn't until the very end, but even so it was still effect with the actual message. I believe that this ad was memorable, it was one that although I haven't seen it in awhile I knew right away that it was the one that I wanted to use. This ad gives us another reason as to why we shouldn't drink and drive. With my having grown up with dogs, and having three right, I know for a fact that this ad will make me think twice about ever drinking and driving. The ad spread like wildfire, bringing in 10.8 million views in the first four days, and it now has over 21 million views since its posting on Youtube September 19, 2014.
Budweiser was using social media to spread the message to the people under the line #friendsarewaiting. According to AdAge article "Budweiser Says Drunk Drivers Kill Puppy Love" , the ad was timed to be released in correlation with the brewers fifth annual promotion of drinking responsibly worldwide. Based on the ad, I probably wouldn't buy Budweiser, mostly because I'm under-aged, but also because I have little interest in alcohol. I would recommend people to watch the ad because its a different perspective on the whole being against drinking and driving campaign, and the ad is more advocating for not drinking and driving rather than drinking Budweiser itself.
To be honest this is one of the few anti-drinking and driving commercials that's really caught my attention. I saw a different perspective, and it showed me that the decisions we make not only affect us, but those we don't really think it would affect, like our pets, our companions. When I was watching the ad, one of the things that really stood out to me was the fact that the Budweiser products, didn't really stand out to me. They weren't a dominant part of the story. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that this ad had a happy ending, a lot of the ads I see against drunk driving are ones that end in tragedy, and nobody wants to watch a tragedy fold out in front of them. It was a message that is for wellbeing of people, that didn't try to force it our faces, but rather show us a different side of story. If we call a cab, or stay the night at a friends, then we are not only prolonging our lives, but we are also ensuring that others don't have to wait for something that isn't coming back.To be honest this is one of the few anti-drinking and driving commercials that's really caught my attention. I saw a different perspective, and it showed me that the decisions we make not only affect us, but those we don't really think it would affect, like our pets, our companions.
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