Budweiser Clydesdale's

Saturday, February 23, 2008

I love the Budweiser Clydesdale's. When I was a teenager, I would perform in the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo every year with the Westernaires. Most years, Budweiser would send one of their Clydesdale teams to perform, as well. The drivers were always kind and gracious, tolerating the gaggles of girls who hung around. Of course, the fact that my Hot Mom would donate 10 pounds of homemade fudge to the crew every year might of had something to do with that.

In any case, this is a Budweiser commercial I had never seen before. It was evidently made right after 9/11. Enjoy.

17 comments:

mom in northern said...

OH yea !
That one will make you puddle.

Janiece said...

You gotta love the big guys.

Shawn Powers said...

Actually, since I'm petrified of horses -- standing near a whole flock of Clydesdales might indeed make me puddle.

*shivers*

Very touching video though.

Anne C. said...

Awww, that was sweet. I love horses. My mum had two or three while I was growing up. The most recent horseback rides I've gone on, I've gotten a big horse (I think it was a Belgian, actually). He was huge and was so careful where he put those big feet. [/sigh] I miss horses.

Becca said...

There is just something so touching about that. May we never forget.

Nathan said...

I hate to be the voice of dissent here, but as the only New Yorker (that I know of), in the room, I would have shot my TV if I'd seen that any time less than a year after 9/11. I don't own a gun, but I'd have gone out and bought one for the purpose.

It strikes me as an utterly cloying, opportunistic, misguided attempt at "feeling our pain" without seeming to be looking for a profit. In my view it misses its mark widely. I suspect that may be why none of us has ever seen it before. Its not completely unheard of for something to go un-aired because somebody develops a clue before pissing off the very people they're trying to connect with.

YMMV.

And, as I've mentioned elsewhere, one of my first gigs in the biz was working on a commercial for Bud. We basically did a weeks worth of shooting the Clydesdales pulling that wagon all over scenic snowy places in Vermont. Those are the most pampered horses I've ever come in contact with. Apologies to the ladies in the room, but those horses are the biggest pussies in the equine family.

And its my birthday, so nobody can hit me.

Janiece said...

Nathan, I can understand why you feel that way, and that may in fact be why it was only aired once.

I have a very low tolerance for companies that attempt to wave the flag simply for the purposes of drumming up business with no commitment to the larger picture. Really, is anything more offensive? Anheuser Busch, however, has a long history of commitment to patriotic endeavors, including on-going and long-term partnerships with the Armed Forces. Many of their commercials reflect that commitment. The segments may in fact be "cloying, opportunistic and misguided" as you suggest, but they are nevertheless an accurate depiction of the company's commitment to putting their money where their mouth is. I can only speak for myself, of course, but I take this piece in the spirit in which I believe it was intended.

As to the horses themselves, they are indeed well taken care of. That's the decision the company made when they made the commitment to the breed. It's certainly not a failing of the breed, who until very recently was a working horse of the highest caliber.

Bear in mind, however, that most domesticated horses are pussies. Only the wild mustang retains the hardiness of their forebears. A good general rule of thumb is, the more attractive the breed, the more delicate they are.

Nature of the beast, I'm afraid. Does anyone have any doubt as to what would happen to most domesticated dog breeds if they had to make their own way in the world?

Shawn Powers said...

Well, if my wife's new Silky Terrier doesn't housebreak soon, I can predict his survival in the wilds of my living room... And his odds are not terribly good.

(I'm actually quite tolerant, and I'm being more facetious than anything. This animal, however, is not terribly intelligent. I'm hoping he's just a slow learner, and that our harsh winter is slowing down the proper piddle process.)

Nathan said...

Janiece,

I may have gone off a little half-cocked to that but I really had a visceral reaction to it ant posted as fast as I could type. Doesn't change my mind about it, but I no longer have any need for firearms.

RE: the horses. I don't care how long they've been domesticated or whatever, these are "Draft horses" that are practically 30 hands high. I had a problem with "They've been pulling that wagon for 45 minutes. They need a 2 hour break."

(I may be exaggerating.) XD

Janiece said...

The Budweiser standard for the horses that pull the wagons is actualy 18 hands, which is 6' at the withers. Just sayin'. :)

Nathan, you can go off half-cocked here if you want - shoot, I go off fully cocked quite often. You're among friends, and as long as you're not unreasonable over the long term, it's all good.

Random Michelle K said...

Shawn,

If it's a pure breed, it may be a lost cause.

My dad's mini-dachshund isn't allowed to roam free in my parents house because he tends to have "accidents."

He can run around the house if he stays in view of everyone, but he gets kenneled when they're at work and at night, which is the first time my parents have ever had to do that with a dog.

Lucky for Bounder (the dog) my parents have a huge wooded dog yard, so as soon as it's warm, he gets to spend all day outside, barking his little head off at anything that passes by (as there is nothing behind my parents house but woods, this means a lot of woodland creatures.)

I have no comments about horses or beer to ad to the main thread. :)

Anne C. said...

There was a Discovery channel (?) show recently called "After People" (or something like that) that hypothesized about what would happen to stuff if people were suddenly gone. They theorized that one of the first things would be that most of our domesticated animals would die, particularly the very specialized, very large, or very small. Even the rat and mouse population would face a serious decline without easy human refuse to live on.

As for the Bud Clydesdales, think of thier handlers (and PETA or whoever hangs around sets to make sure animals aren't injured or killed) as the horse union. They are, in effect, movie stars.
Actually, I'd say horse personalities are about as varied as people's -- there are prima donnas and mean SOBs and some that just want to get along.
So insult away, makes no never mind to me. ;)

Janiece said...

Anne, I'll have to look for that and set the old DVR. Sounds interesting!

Unknown said...

You know, this may give me a beat down by Nathan, but I remember seeing that commercial when it first aired. I think it was at the delayed Superbowl that year.

I remember getting teary eyed while watching that. I can understand how someone in NY would give the big FU to commercializing the attacks, but to anyone else not living in DC, PA or NYC at the time, the commercial closes the disconnect of wanting to pay some sort of respect to lives that were lost on that day. If anything, it made us remember what we lost in those painful hours.

Later on, I went to say a prayer at Ground Zero after they opened up the ramp leading to the footprints and was incensed at the people who were taking smiling tourist photos as men and women cleared debris.

I guess I'm of the mind that a few horses bowing in respect to the ultimate symbol of freedom despite the branding at the end, was definitely more classy than any of the opportunistic photo bullshit at the Twin Towers.

To this day, every time I cross the GWB, I curse under my breath that they aren't still standing.

Anne C. said...

Janiece, it was actually on the History Channel and was called "Life After People." I still have it on my DVR, though I recorded it a month ago. Wish I could email it to you!

Shawn Powers said...

Here ya go, you can pick your own moral views on downloading television shows that you just forgot to record.

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1127990

Janiece said...

Anne, it's replaying in March. Thanks, though!