The touching story behind the 9/11 commercial that only aired once

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Budweiser Clydesdales aired an emotional advertisement paying tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks and it was played on television for just one time.

The world-famous liquor company is famous for their Budweiser Clydesdales, which has become an icon in many parts of the world. Following their advertisement trend, they decided to pay their respect to the city of New York, which was hurt the most by the attack.

A video report uploaded to Facebook by Fox 6 News stated that the video was pulled off after airing only once just to honor the victims of the terror attack, and to ensure that the company made no financial benefit out of it.

The commercial aired for one time during Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3, 2002. Although many people might have forgotten it, many others still recall it as one of the most emotional tributes to have come out during those times.

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Jeff Knapper, company’s General Manager of Clydesdales Operations, told that the horses spent around 45 days training for the scene where they stop overlooking the landscape of New York City and deliver a bow.

The filming process of the film required layers of approval from members of the Congress, the advertising community, and finally from the New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani.

Bob Lachky, former executive vice president of Anheuser-Busch Global Creative, spoke about the shooting procedure, "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."

He further explained that it was an amazing feeling to actually come into airspace with their helicopter to film the Clydesdale.

It was only a few months after the 9/11 tragedy and the New York city was still going through the hurt and the pain of the attacks. So to film the video amid that scenario and to address those sentiments was a daring feat.

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