The 90s Most Popular Commercial Is Responsible For Pirates Of The Caribbean

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 9 seconds ago

You couldn’t escape them. They were in the malls. On television. Quoted in schools around the country. The Budweiser frogs, Bud, Weis, and Er, became immediate icons within minutes of their commercial debuting during the 1995 Super Bowl. Given that it was the year of the 49ers vs. the Chargers, it makes sense that a commercial would be the most memorable part.

What most people don’t know is that the commercial was the breakthrough for director Gore Verbinski, the mastermind behind the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Who knew that three croaking frogs would wind up being the catalyst for Johnny Depp becoming a superstar? 

Bud. Weis. Er.

Gore Verbinski directing an award-winning commercial that turned Budweiser into the hottest brand in beer came a decade after he launched his career behind the camera with music videos, including Bad Religion’s “American Jesus” and Monster Magnet’s “Negasonic Teenage Warhead.” This is the moment a whole bunch of Deadpool 2 viewers nod their heads in understanding, as no, that name wasn’t as random as it seemed. 

The Budweiser frogs becoming a massive success and briefly America’s Favorite Mascots seemed random at the time. The trio, played by animatronic puppets, starred in more commercials long after Verbinski moved on to Hollywood with Mousetrap and a little horror movie called The Ring.

Eventually, more animals joined them, including a crocodile, a ferret, and a pair of chameleons. This was before the launch of social media, when commercials were a generation’s version of Instagram reels or TikToks, and one good catchphrase would be repeated over and over across every school in America. 

From Commercials To The Caribbean

Commercials of the 90s were cultural shorthand for what was popular and cool, which explains why Gore Verbinski was able to quickly pivot into features after the success of the Budweiser frogs. The team of Verbinski, Johnny Depp, and megaproducer Jerry Bruckheimer turned a movie based on one of Disney’s oldest rides into one of the most successful franchises in history. It was so successful that Verbinski and Depp were able to branch out into other genres together, making a pair of westerns together: Rango and The Lone Ranger. One of them was a success, and the other nearly destroyed both of their careers. 

Even with the failure of The Lone Ranger hanging over their careers, the threat (or promise, depending on how you feel about the last two Pirates movies), of another pairing of Verbinski and Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow is exciting to the series’ massive fanbase. Rumors of a sequel, a reboot, or even a gender-swapped film starring Margot Robbie, have been true, shot down, and outright canceled over the years to the point that no one will believe the pirates have set sail again until the opening credits hit the big screen. 

Budweiser would love to have another commercial go as viral as the frogs did back in 1995. Now the Super Bowl commercial arms race has become so emphasized by Hollywood that it’s hard to stand out amid a sea of A-list celebrity cameos. Verbinski won’t be going back to commercials anytime soon, especially not after the success of his latest film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, but a trip to Tortuga is never out of the question.