By Manoj Jacob, executive creative director, The Crayons Network
Why the campaign rocks:
When you write a radio spot, the listener is the art director. Which makes it an extremely testy medium to write for. So to write not one, but 200 delightfully crafted radio spots, takes a real genius. That’s why Bud Light’s Real Men of Genius is my favourite campaign.
Over two decades old, these radio spots continue to stay as fresh and crisp as a chilled beer. The campaign was originally conceived at DDB Chicago. Each 60 second spot opens with a ‘1980’s style rock anthemic tune, before we hear the announcer, Peter Stacker utter the words, “Bud Light presents, Real Men of Genius.” This is followed by the voice of the singer, Dave Bickler, famous for the popular Rocky track, ‘The Eye of the Tiger’.
Each radio spot is a celebration of America’s ‘aam aadmi heroes’ . These include the pro-wrestling wardrobe designer or the silent killer gas passer, with whom “a simple elevator ride is suddenly a 42-floor plummet into the very bowels of hell”. Each spot is filled with one-liners that assault you one after the other like the staccato of a machine gun, and hilariously reminding you to open an ice-cold Bud Light. Now, if that isn’t genius, I don’t know what is.