Weaponizing the Twitter Ratio, An Oral History of the ‘Wassup?’ Budweiser Ad and the Guys Who Swear by Their Male Lingerie

Homophobic people really need to get off of dudes who like to get down with their bad selves and wear male lingerie. Looking at you, Don Jr.:

First off, your Wooly Willy beard is wack, so get bent. Second, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be comfortable in whatever you choose to wear — be it sweatpants or a sexy négligé — especially behind closed doors. You don’t see me going on Twitter and giving you shit for wearing a suit made out of human skin and dancing around to “Goodbye Horses,” do you?

Hey yo, lesson here, Junior: You come at the Lingerie Kings, you best not miss.

Must Read

“The ‘Ratio’ Is the Next Great American Sport”
Want to know what direct democracy looks like in 2019? Look no further than egomaniacal billionaire and presidential hopeful Howard Schultz’ besieged Twitter account. Right now on the social sharing platform thousands of Great Americans are doing what they do best: Ratioing the shit out of the former Starbucks CEO for his narcissistic desire to run as a third-party centrist and on a platform of preventing mega-rich assholes such as himself from paying their fair share. Every single one of his 12 tweets has more replies than likes and retweets — an unprecedented kill streak. And we’re here for all of it. READ MORE

WHAAAZZZZAAAAPPP

That there short film is the genesis behind one of the most talked about ads in TV history: The Budweiser “Whassup?” spot, which debuted on Monday Night Football in December 1999 and aired during Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. Hell, the ad became so famous it was even parodied in Scary Movie:

But what of its humble beginnings? How did an ad go viral before going viral was even a thing? Quinn Myers spoke with the man who discovered the film and decided, “Hey, what if these guys were holding Budweisers?”

Shake On It

The Cleveland Browns taking quarterback Johnny Manziel over Teddy Bridgewater in the 2014 draft because Cleveland’s owner Jimmy Haslam didn’t like Bridgewater’s handshake is the definition of the oft-used rejoinder “Browns gonna brown,” now shorthand for the team’s futility. But for a long time, retrograde horseshit like judging a man’s athletic ability based on the grip of his hand was par for the course among sports’ power brokers.

Wash Your Pants

Do you wear a special pair of jammies or “house pants” from the moment you get home until the moment you leave? Ian Lecklitner does, and he’s been operating under the assumption that, because they’re pants, he does not need to wash them more than every two-to-three weeks. He’s since found out from a laundry expert that’s wrong — dead wrong.

The Great Facebook Ad Bamboozle of 2019

Sure, it’s manipulative, but have you ever wanted to try and brainwash one of your friends into doing something and see if you got away with it? If you answered with a resounding “hell yes,” know that, for only one easy payment of $29, a company called The Spinner will help you bombard your unsuspecting target with Facebook ads in an attempt to influence their behavior.

Intrigued, we gave Tracy Moore a modest budget to trick Miles Klee into giving up alcohol, something he’s extremely reluctant to do — here’s how it went.

What Are Ya, Chicken?

You’d think it’d be easy to make chicken nuggets out of, well, chicken, but even the largest food processors struggle at it. Case in point: Tyson Foods, which is currently recalling more than 36,000 pounds of their bite-sized poultry morsels because they’re less chicken and more rubber. And while rubber might not sound that appetizing, massive corporations making our beloved nuggets with less than 100 percent meat — often times, way less — is more the rule than the exception.

Dude-Strology: Dog Edition

We all know by now that our star signs have massive, life-altering implications on who we are as humans, but do they translate across the species and affect our furry friends as well? MEL Chief Astrology Officer Taj tackles the canine conundrum for one reader worried about getting along with his Aquarius pup and helps another to properly cheerlead for his artistic Leo girlfriend with a crisis of confidence.

Man-Gerie

Flannel pajamas are nice and all, but you haven’t LIVED until you’ve experienced the feeling of a silk nightie gently caressing your supple man flesh. C. Brian Smith spoke with the trailblazers behind the male-lingerie line XDress, a men’s sex therapist and more about the history of guys using silk and lace to get in touch with their feminine side.

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Jeff Gross

Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.