Earlier this week, Budweiser honored NBA legend Dwyane Wade’s retirement with a tribute film titled “This Bud’s For 3.”
The short film highlights the athlete’s achievements as well as his legacy off the court. The clip shows Wade meeting with some of the fans he has impacted within his career and commitment to giving back to those in need.
Budweiser aired the full four-minute film at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena before tip-off and during halftime on April 9th, which was Dwyane’s last home game.
“Throughout the year, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my basketball career and thank so many teammates, coaches and mentors who have impacted me on the court,” Wade said. “Thanks to Budweiser for reminding me that my connection to people is bigger than basketball. While my basketball career is coming to a close in the coming days, my relationship with my fans will only continue to grow.”
Monica Rustgi, Vice President of Budweiser, said the company was “honored” to celebrate Wade’s “legendary NBA career.”
“We take pride in telling the stories that connect sports legends to their fans. While Dwyane Wade is one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball, we wanted to showcase his even-greater impact and legacy off the court,” she added.
When asked by MSN how long it took for the Bud campaign with Dwyane to come together, she explained:
It actually happened pretty fast! With Dwyane in his final season of the NBA, we knew we wanted to do something special to not only celebrate his legendary athleticism on the court but arguably more importantly, his incredible impact off the court. The storyline of the film was inspired by Wade’s iconic jersey swap and we loved this gesture of him swapping jerseys with opposing players at the end of each game. So we thought it would be interesting to surprise Wade with some of his fans, each of them coming with something to swap with him and those items they brought each representing the personal impact he had on their lives.
Last month, we invited Dwyane to swap jerseys with select “surprise” legends — but he was surprised to find they were not NBA legends, but rather some of his most legendary fans that he’s directly impacted the lives of as a result of his time and generosity off the court. We were honored that he would trust Budweiser to do a tribute film in the right way and through the process we actually surprised him along the way.
As far as the takeaway she hopes viewers will come away with from watching the footage, Rustgi said:
This Bud’s For 3 tells the story of Dwyane’s impact off the court and showcases his incredible connection with his fans. Dwyane is considered one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game, having won three NBA titles and appearing in 13 All-Star Games in his NBA career. While his career has been nothing short of remarkable, this film highlights his even more impactful legacy off the court.
Grab your tissues before you watch the emotional tribute film via the clip above.
