Vinny Warren (born 5 April 1966) is an Irish-born American advertising creative director, most notable for his iconic "

Whassup? ''Whassup?'' (also known as ''Wazzup'') was a commercial campaign for Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002. The first spot aired during ''Monday Night Football'' on December 20, 1999. The ad campaign ran in much of the world and became a pop culture ...

" campaign for

Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch) Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrelat ...

. Warren was inducted into the Clio Awards Hall of Fame in 2006. He is based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Early life

Warren was born in

Galway, Ireland Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on t ...

in 1966. Warren attended the

National University of Ireland, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, and moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1988, where he studied design and art. In 1990, Warren won a US Diversity Immigrant Visa lottery and moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he briefly worked as a

horse and buggy ] A horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English and American English) refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two ho ...

driver in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, before being hired by advertising executive

Ed McCabe Ed McCabe was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1938. He is a founder of Scali, McCabe, Sloves, an American advertising agency of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1974, he was elected to the One Club Hall of Fame at the age of 34. He remains the youngest pers ...

in 1992.

Career

Warren worked as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

at McCabe & Co. Advertising from 1992 to 1994. In 1995, Warren moved to Chicago, where he continued to work as a copywriter before being hired as a creative director by Doyle Dane Bernbach in 1998, where he worked extensively on developing advertisements for Budweiser. In 1999, Warren developed the "

" campaign along with art director Chuck Taylor, based on the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''True'' by

Charles Stone III Charles Stone III (born 1966) is an American film director. He is best known for ''Drumline'' starring Nick Cannon, '' Mr. 3000'' starring Bernie Mac, and '' Paid in Full''. Stone directed the video to " What They Do" by The Roots, featuring t ...

, who also directed the Budweiser variant. The ad was a success, winning an immense number of advertising industry awards, including a

Cannes Lions The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

Grand Prix, a Grand Clio, and others. In 2006, the advertisment was inducted into the

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί� ...

Hall of Fame. In 2006, Warren started his own

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, The Escape Pod. Warren served as executive creative director of The Escape Pod until 2021, when Warren left the agency and became a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

creative director.

Personal life

Warren has a wife and children, and lives in the suburbs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

References

External links

Official Site

Vinny Warren's blog
Living people American businesspeople 1966 births {{US-business-bio-stub