Exploring Voice Identification: The Budweiser Commercial

A recent Budweiser commercial shows close-ups of beer flowing and close-ups of the bottle and label. The narrator, who has a smooth and masculine voice, explains what makes Budweiser so special: choice hops, etc., etc. When I first saw the commercial a while back, I recognized the voice from somewhere, but I could not quite place it. About a week ago I finally figured it out and I was proud of this accomplishment.

Yesterday, a friend of mine insulted me because it took me so long to figure out that the narrator is George Clooney. This friend shall remain anonymous. It is sufficient to say that he is a big sports fan whose favorite sports moment was the 1989 AFC championship game; his favorite professional athlete is Jose Mesa. This friend said, "You should write a blog about how you were the last person in the continental United States to figure out that George Clooney was the voice in the Budweiser commercial." I'm no linguist, but it seems to me that this friend is challenging my validity as a 100% red-blooded American.

George Clooney certainly deserves some consideration as a true American celebrity, but he is simply a Thespian. Clooney became a "Thespian" when he started making artsy fartsy movies like Solaris which made no sense at all and is a black mark on Clooney's existence. True American celebrities do only what is awesome. Clooney should never receive the credit that, say, John Wayne (R.I.P.), Michael Jordan, Dale Earnhardt (R.I.P), any US President, or Chuck Woolery would receive. It follows, obviously, that someone like Clooney would have a slightly recognizeable voice, but not one that is as distinct as a fingerprint.

Further discrediting my friend's argument is the actual marketing objective of this commercial and commercials like it. When asked why companies are spending big money to hire "celebrity" voices for commercials without an actual appearance, Budweiser's Vice President of Trademark Brands (Dan McHugh) said this: “The objective is for the consumer to sort of know the voice. They may not necessarily place it right away, but when they do, they say, 'Wow'! It's that whole intrigue of discovery.” In other words, the “cool” factor is higher because there's mystery involved." This strategy worked on me; because I'm a true American.

Lastly, another possible explanation for a guy quickly recognizing Clooney's voice is homosexuality. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against gays. I'm just saying that if a dude recognizes Clooney's voice, he might really be attracted to the guy.

Only awesome Americans should be quickly recognized by voice alone. That being said, after one viewing of a recent Lowe's Home Improvement commercial, I knew without a doubt that the man behind the voice was Gene Hackman. Now there's a guy we can all agree is an American Celebrity.