Bud’s Spot Isn’t So Fetching to Everyone

Advertiser: Anheuser-Busch Cos.

Agency: Open Minds, Laguna Beach

Challenge: Portray mass-market Budweiser as a hip, desirable brand.

The Ad: After spying a sign offering a Budweiser for a lost Dalmatian, a man paints black spots on his white toy poodle to get the reward. About two dozen other guys have the same idea, and attempt to use their white dogs with painted spots to collect a Bud.

Comment: This ad is a sure-fire hit with sports bar patrons, among the beer drinkers Anheuser-Busch wants to reach. But it won’t score points with activists who contend that ads with cute animals appeal to underage drinkers. Many of the rest of us will get the joke, but probably not a Bud. $$$