Sunday, October 26, 2008

Whaaasup? 2008 ...TRUE



Back in the late 90s, director Charles Stone put together a short film called "TRUE," in which several characters sat around talking on the phone and yelling out "Whaaasup!" Picked up by Anheuser-Bush in 1999, the short became a commercial for Budweiser beer in which Stone and several of his childhood friends brought black and hip hop lingo (T R U E) to the mainstream. Long after it became annoyingly copied and overused, it remained embedded in popular American culture.

Today, Charles Stone has returned with a sequel released on Youtube called "Whaaasup 2008." Unrelated at all to beer, the short film recounts what's happened since 1999 under the Bush administration, and makes a rather blatant endorsement for a certain Democratic Presidential candidate. Nothing like a little politics in between "Any Given Sunday." And while it's as hilarious as the original, there's also a sad and chilling "spot on" aspect to its commentary that definitely makes you want to say...

TRUE.



The old original commercial that was such an icon of the late 90s: