To football fans, last month’s Super Bowl meant Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh . . . a 34-minute stadium-wide
blackout . . . the Ravens holding off the hard-charging 49ers for the victory . . . and a triumphant finale to the Ray Lewis Farewell Tour.
Front and center for animal lovers, though, wasn’t Lewis, or Colin Kaepernick, or Joe Flacco. No, it was the brilliantly conceived, beautifully shot, impeccably produced, heart-tugging Budweiser commercial (see still, right; click on link for full commercial) featuring the gorgeous young Clydesdale galloping down a post-parade-deserted Chicago street for one last nuzzle with the trainer who’d raised him from colt-hood. If this one doesn’t give you serious goose bumps, then either you don’t have a pulse, or you really don’t like cornball commercials.
These days my oldest son Matt’s assignment is creating advertising for Bud Light — a tough gig for a former football jock and a dude who likes his beer. One of his more onerous responsibilities, as Ricky alluded to in a Roof Rack Report last week, was a trip to St. Louis for a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Matt had told me before the trip that he was really, really looking forward to meeting up with the famed Clydesdales. George, the guide for his little group (there were three others from his
agency with him), kept opening one door after another in the brewery, until, with no particular fanfare, he came to the final one — and they could smell the hay. Matt would finally have his long-awaited audience with the Clydesdales.
And then, as Matt tells it, in almost identical fashion to the the young horse in the commercial bolting toward his old trainer, “this beautiful Dalmatian emerges from around the corner and sprints toward me like I was his master and he hadn’t seen me in ten years! My heart melted.” Matt says proudly that, with all the people in the stable, the Dalmatian made a beeline for him; he also admits he was probably the one who most reached out for the adorable dog.
It was mutual love at first sight, and though the guide was now proudly introducing all the Clydesdales — the highlight of the brewery tour — Matt only had eyes for his new friend, Chip.
LOOK FOR A NEW BEAGLE MAN POST EVERY THURSDAY. OR PRETTY CLOSE TO THURSDAY. COULD BE WEDNESDAY. OR FRIDAY. LET’S NOT GET TOO OBSESSIVE HERE . . . 
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O-M-G!! I never watch the S.B. so this commercial was new.
Just perfect. I only wish it was more filled out and longer. Clydesdales used to be one of the farm all-purpose
work horses, it was very clever of someone to create this use, otherwise, the breed would just die out. I knew dalmatians were traditionally fire house dogs, left over from when fire trucks were pulled by horses, so it makes sense for the clydesdales to have their very own. What a thrill for Matt when Chip made a bee line to him. Chip knew a dog lover when he saw one.