Thursday, August 25, 2011

Spuds McKenzie: The Original Party Animal


Does anyone remember Spuds McKenzie?  Although he seems to have been forgotten nowadays, he was a popular advertising character during the late 1980s. Portrayed as "the original party animal," Spuds was the mascot, of sorts, for Bud Light beer during that decade.




Spuds was always portrayed as a fun-loving good times party goer, and always the center of attention, especialy from the ladies.





According to Wikipedia the very first Spuds McKenzie commercial aired as a Super Bowl ad in 1987. Also, interestingly, Spuds, a Bull Terrier, "who was portrayed as male in the commercials, was actually female."

Alas, Spuds, whose real name was Honey Tree Evil Eye, succumbed in 1993 to kidney failure.

Here's to you Spuds . . . may you always be in that never-ending '80s party in the sky.



3 comments:

  1. I do remember Spuds being the spokesdog for this product but not any of the ads specifically. It was cool seeing some of them again. I don't like beer, but some of the ads for various companies back in the late 70's and the 80's I did enjoy like the Miller lite ones with Rodney Dangerfield and the sports stars.

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  2. Aww, Spuds was cute. It was the first time I learned what a Bull Terrier was. I only vaguely remember the commercials. It's interesting to note that Target later used a Bull Terrier as a mascot in their commercials.

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  3. I totally remember Spuds McKenzie! I remember when I was about 9 having a Bud Light poster with Spuds McKenzie surfing and catching a tubular wave. I probably got the poster, not because of the beer, but because it had a freakin' dog catching a radical wave!!

    RIP Spuds McKenzie

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