03-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE We starred in iconic TV commercial. Over the last 26 years, our catchphrase has helped us through tough times
For many, the iconic 'whassup' Budweiser ad was a cultural hit imitated in parties, bars and school lunchrooms across the US in the early 2000s. For four Philadelphia friends, it changed their lives forever.
The 1999 Super Bowl commercial opened with Charles Stone III watching a game on TV while drinking a Budweiser beer before he got a phone call from friend Paul L. Williams, who was doing the same.
Then walked in Fred Thomas Jr. wearing a bright yellow jersey, who asked Stone the now-famous line: 'Whassup?'
Stone replied the same line, sticking his tongue far out of his mouth, before telling Thomas to pick up the landline phone. The same exaggerated catchphrase was then repeated... well, repeatedly, before he asked: 'Where's Dookie?'
The camera then cut to Scott Martin Brooks, who was typing away at a clunky old desktop computer.
'Yo?' Brooks answered, prompting Thomas to call out the inside joke again. A chorus of 'whassup' filled the phone line by the real-life friends, and the rest is TV history.
The catchphrase would permeate society deeply with worldwide recognition as people across the globe began doing their own versions of the loud but friendly greeting.
More than 25 years later, the commercial has altered the lives - and careers - of Stone, Brooks, Thomas and Williams. 'None of us even imagined it would blow up the way it did,' Brooks exclusively told the
'The day we found out we got the commercial, we just assumed we'd make a nice little chunk of money and go on with our normal lives,' he added. 'I kept working my job for the first couple months!'
Stone is still a director and has even directed four episodes of the popular sitcom Blackish and an episode of Friday Night Lights.
His most recent work, The Underdoggs, which features Snoop Dogg, is an Amazon Original.
Thomas has gone on to become a cameraman for CBS, and Williams now manages a real estate business.
As for Brooks, he still does some acting work, but his recent kidney transplant took him out of commission for a bit.
The actor was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2016 and received his new organ in February 2024 after years of treatment.
'My kidneys failed in 2023, and I went on dialysis,' Brooks told the
'Kidney disease pretty much curtailed my acting,' he continued. 'I had several week-long stays in the ICU, I was on a bunch of meds that had awful physical side effects, and I had a catheter sticking out of my chest!
'I was offered a couple of roles that I had to turn down because I looked like Chet from Weird Science! I've just spent the last year recovering. I had a few complications, but things are under control now and I'm doing very well.'
Prior to his transplant, he made his acting rounds and even hosted a show on ABC.
Now, he mainly makes guest appearance spots on podcasts and TV shows, including CBS' Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials special, where their ad was ranked fourth.
Brooks still recalls being in Stone's Brooklyn, New York, apartment when Anheuser-Busch called the director to offer them the Super Bowl ad deal.
The ad stemmed from a short film Stone had shot using the catchphrase in hopes of moving his career toward making films instead of music videos.
'His manager entered the short into some film festivals, people in the industry saw it, started making VHS copies of it and sending it to their friends, and that's how it landed in the hands of Vinny Warren, an ad exec at DDB Chicago,' Brooks told the
'He showed it to August Bush IV, VP at Anheuser Bush. He loved it, and they made Chuck an offer to direct a series of commercials.'
And the crew of boys - who became friends as teenagers in Philadelphia in the 1980s - actually used the greeting in real life back then. Although, they don't use it much anymore.
'Me and the guys stopped saying 'whassup!' to each other years ago as we got older, we came up with other silly ways to greet each other,' Brooks said.
'Some of my friends will say it to me every now and then, mostly to break my stones!'
And their friend group still stays strong, with the men talking to each other often, despite living in different cities.
'I talk to everyone fairly regularly, mostly through phone, text and DMs, since we're spread out all over the country,' Brooks told 'We get together whenever we're all in the same city.'
And although Brooks wouldn't reveal how much money they've made off the commercial - and the ones that came after - he said they did pretty well.
'Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's impolite to bring up politics, religion, or money! I'm kidding,' he joked.
'We did OK. I'll just say this; we landed on the Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2000! We came in ahead of David Blaine and the Baha Men!'
The ad was so popular that Brooks still gets recognized every once in a while.
'I still get recognized from time to time, even with the grey beard! I was at a wedding two weekends ago, and one of the guests asked to take a photo. It's flattering,' he told
Whenever the ad pops up again on social media, the comments of the post explode. Understandably, the friends aren't quite ready to let go of their iconic characters.
'We've been trying to pitch the idea to Budweiser, as well as other brands, to see if they'd like to use us in some ads,' Brooks revealed.
As for a revival, it may be in the works, but only time will tell if a new generation will be yelling 'whassup' at each other.
