<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Whassup? (also known as Wazzup) was a commercial campaign for Anheuser - Busch Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002 . The first spot aired during Monday Night Football, December 20, 1999 . The ad campaign was run worldwide and became a pop culture catchphrase . The phrase itself is a slurred version of the phrase "What's up?". </P> <P> The commercials were based on a short film, entitled True, written and directed by Charles Stone III, that featured Stone and several of his childhood friends--Fred Thomas, Paul Williams, Terry Williams, Jimmy "Puerto Rock" Perez and Kevin Lofton . The characters sat around talking on the phone and saying "whassup?" to one another in a comical way . The short was popular at a number of film festivals around the country and eventually caught the attention of creative director Vinny Warren and art director Chuck Taylor at the Chicago - based ad agency DDB, who took the idea to August A. Busch IV, vice president of Anheuser - Busch, and signed Stone to direct Budweiser TV commercials based on the film . Scott Martin Brooks won the role of Dookie when Kevin Lofton declined to audition . </P>

Where did the phrase what's up come from