Anheuser Busch - Bud Light - Opera Master (2007) 0:30 (USA)

Credits:
Ad Agency: DDB Chicago
Creative Directors: Chuck Rachford & Chris Roe
Art Directors: Brant Herzer (Opera) & John Baker (Dogs)
Copywriter: Tyler Campbell (Opera) & Jason Gorman (Dogs)
Executive Producer: Will St. Clair
Producer: Kate Hildebrant

Production Company: Tool of North America
Director: Erich Joiner
DP: Bob Richardson
Executive Producers: Jennifer Siegel & Brian Latt
Producer: Jeff Tanner

Editorial Company: Final Cut/Los Angeles
Editors: Stephen Berger (Opera) & JD Smyth (Beware of Dogs)
Asst. Editor: Logan Hefflefinger
Executive Producer: Saima Awan
Producer: Kelly Garcia

Postproduction Company: Filmworkers Club/Chicago

How The Spot Was Created:
Final Cut Editors Stephen Berger and JD Smyth recently completed an absurdly funny campaign for Bud Light. "Opera" and "Beware of the Dogs" were created by ad agency DDB Chicago, and feature the tagline, "Refreshingly smooth Bud Light. Always worth it."

In "Opera," two men bring their girlfriends to the opera. Bored, they decide to break the monotony with a couple of Bud Lights strategically sewn into one guy’s jacket. As they get ready to enjoy their beers, the singer on stage hits a powerful high note, which causes the bottles in their hands to shatter. One by one, the remaining bottles explode in the man’s jacket as beer splatters everywhere. A patron in front of them turns and taunts, "First time at the opera, boys?" and shakes his high-nit-proof aluminum can.

"Beware of the Dogs" features a man who chooses to ignore said warning written on a six-pack of Bud Light in his buddy’s fridge. The moment he grabs a bottle, two white Pomeranians yap like crazy and follow him everywhere - barking from the conference table as he tries to make a presentation at work, staring through the shower door at him, and yapping as he tries to sleep. He finally shows up at his friend’s door with a six-pack and pleads, "Call 'em off." The two pooches get a seal of approval from their owner with a "Nice work, boys."

Stephen Berger, who edited the "Opera" spot, had an extremely fast turnaround of two days, but credits the strong direction of the agency creatives and great footage shot by Director Erich Joiner of Tool of North America.

"I think the campaign shows a slightly more sophisticated side to Budweiser’s humor," says Berger. "I enjoyed working on something this funny. In this case, it helped to have a tight deadline because the humor was more instinctual. Everyone involved was comically savvy. We got some good laughs out of it."

"The scripts were fantastic," agrees JD Smyth. "This was one of those occasions where it would've have been nice to have done a :45 because there were so many memorable moments. The 'Dogs' storyline almost could have been extrapolated into a sitcom. The sentiment of the spot is that there’s a certain level of irritation with those kinds of small dogs. It was a subject matter that most of us can relate to, which is what I loved about the script. [Director] Erich Joiner always comes up with a wealth of great material. We had to communicate the utter level of hysteria created by the pups, and were able to develop some of the vignettes within the :30. I think both of these spots turned out really well."