The anniversary of 9/11 is always emotional and makes hearts heavy. This moving ad, which only aired once, will absolutely break your heart. In this Budweiser ad, the signature Clydesdales are featured, honoring the memory of those who died on that horrific day. Horses are seen running in a field and are fitted with their equipment before pulling a wagon away from a barn. They travel on a road, with the surrounding countryside covered in snow, as people watch the magnificent animals pass by.
The ad then cuts to a city scene, as the horses travel over the Brooklyn Bridge to New York City, stopping with the NYC skyline in the distance.
After a close up of one of the majestic Clydesdale’s faces, the camera pulls away as the Statue of Liberty is seen beyond the animals. The music swells and the horses bow down before the scene fades to black.
The emotional commercial only aired one time during Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3, 2002, but lives forever on the internet and makes a reappearance yearly online on this sad anniversary.
The Anheuser-Busch creative team involved had to get approval from members of Congress, the advertising community, and New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani to make the ad a reality.
Bob Lachky, former executive vice president of Anheuser-Busch Global Creative, explained to Fox 2 Now: “We filmed in New York City. We had a helicopter going over the Brooklyn Bridge. Mayor Giuliani let us into the city — the only film company of any sort right after 9-11. To actually come into air space with our helicopter to film the Clydesdales…the hitch coming into Battery Park and it was amazing…just amazing.”
An updated version of the ad aired on September 11, 2011, on the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
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