Usually for a blog like this I’d attempt to tie it into some current event. But for Spuds MacKenzie, there’s no need. He’s just the coolest dog ever. Not sure who Spuds MacKenzie is? BEHOLD, SPUDS:

Don’t let the caption fool you. Spuds MacKenzie isn’t actually a Dean of Partyology. And I’m pretty sure he’s not actually pouring that beer.

No, Spuds MacKenzie was the mascot for Bud Light in the 1980s. And it was totally awesome. Just… LOOK AT HIM!

I don’t have all too much info on the history of Spuds MacKenzie. But I do want to meditate on what exactly is happening here.

For some reason, the marketing people at Bud Light in the 80s decided they needed a mascot for their horrible beer. And what better way to appeal to the masses than with a cool dog with a rad attitude? Yup, they literally just did a Poochie.

Imagine pitching this today. “We need to get more young people drinking our beer. How about a dog that wears sunglasses? Everyone loves dogs!”. It doesn’t quite make any sense, but it sort of works. I couldn’t find any footage of him actually drinking any beer, but I did find this .gif of him doing a sweet ski jump.

Look how cool that is! So much better than Jean Claude van Damme doing the splits or whatever he’s doing in those Coors Light ads right now.

At the height of Spuds’ popularity, you could even buy merchandise of him. Sort of like a precursor of the Compare the Market meerkat tat you get now. Here I am in my younger days modelling such a tee:

“The original party animal.” He sure was.

If that phrase sounds familiar, it might be because Futurama ripped off the character wholesale for their ‘Slurms Mackenzie’ character. RIP

Apparently there was some controversy when it was uncovered that the original Spuds dog was in fact female. But I’d just argue that would actually make Spuds an early figure in the awareness of social progressiveness in advertising. So good for her.

More worrying was that people thought the dog particularly appealed to children. And that children loving a beer-drinking dog probably wasn’t the best idea. So Spuds was retired. Although he made a reappearance in the 2017 Super Bowl literally as a ghost mutt. This kind of implies he died, which is sort of morbid. But it’s cool to see him back in action.

LOL at the idea of you showing up late to a house party with a crate of Bud Light and people actually being happy to see you.

Anyway, that’s it really. Spuds MacKenzie represents a better time. A time when a dog could advertise beer on TV and everyone thought it was cool. Crack open a cold one and toast Spuds, wherever he is now.