Bud Light’s 2005 Super Bowl ad "Applause," made by DDB Chicago, dramatizes a spontaneous airport display of appreciation for American troops.

It’s a reprise of a 1984 Bud Light spot honoring Olympic torch-bearers, touching without veering into mawkishness, respectful without jingoism. "It's 33 years overdue," said Robert Lee, a creative director at Kaplan Thaler Group, told The Wall Street Journal at the time, referring to the hostility some soldiers encountered returning from service in Vietnam. Another Kaplan creative director, Tom Amico, wasn’t sure marketing product was the right motivation for the troops’ embrace. "It would have been better if it was a PSA, a public-service announcement, and not a BSA, beer-service announcement," he told the Journal.   

“Applause” ranked third on that year’s USA Today Ad Meter. It was also directed by Joe Pytka, who could in some ways be called the father of Super Bowl advertising, but isn’t a particular fan of the Ad Meter. “I think, in a funny way, that poll has caused more bad advertising than anything else in the history of advertising,” he told Ad Age in 2012. “People try too hard, and when you try to hard, you make stupid mistakes.” Not here, however.

Chief creative officer Bob Scarpelli. Group creative director Barry Burdiak. Creative director: Joan Hayes. Creative director/art director: Steve Bougdanos. Creative director/copywriter Patrick Knoll. Group executive producer: Greg Popp.

Editorial: Spot Welders. Editor: Dick Gordon.

BRAND: Bud Light

YEAR: 2005

AGENCY: DDB

SUPERBOWL: XXXIX

QUARTER AIRED: Q3