Best Ad on TV Isn't on TV

No F--ing way! For the first time, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has awarded an Emmy -- the highest honor in TV -- to a commercial that never appeared on TV.

The award was for a Web-only commercial that DDB Chicago made for Bud Light called "Swear Jar." It was one of three of the first broadband platform Emmys given in primetime in categories that only last year allowed internet content to even be considered.

The ad never ran on TV. "We couldn't run that commercial on television ... It would never get passed the censors," says Bob Scarpelli, DDB Worldwide's chairman and chief creative officer.

In the ad, office workers started a "Swear Jar." A woman in a cubicle explains to a curious guy stopping by, "Every time someone swears you put a quarter in it."

"Who gets the money?" he says.

She suggested buying a case of Bud Light for the office.

He responds, "F--in awesome."

The 60-second ad depicts everyone in the office swearing like crazy -- even pushing each other to swear more.

"Poop," a woman says at the copy machine.

A guy sticks his head out of a cubicle. "That doesn't count," he says.

She screams, "Will you shut the f--k up?!"

There are nearly more bleeps in the commercial than actual words. At the end, the boss toasts his office workers, each of them holding up a Bud Light.

Scarpelli has also played a role in the development of the Internet as a reputable medium for ads when it comes to other prestigious award shows.

He was the jury president of the Film Lion at Cannes when the Web-driven ad "Evolution" for Dove won the top honor in the category. "I think [the Emmy win] just acknowledges the reality today that we're working on at least four screens," he said.

Rick Boyko, director of the VCU Brandcenter, says "The medium's continued to produce some of the more interesting work over the past three years. ... It's just that the Emmy's caught up, not necessarily that [the win is] that significant other than that."

The commercial was originally broadcast on Anheuser Busch's Bud.tv, its struggling Internet television channel.

But ultimately the ad's popularity gave it a life beyond its feeble beginnings. The spot has been viewed more than 12 million times online.

by Willow Duttge