Buffalo Wild Wings' New Mascot? A Snarky Buffalo With Wings

Would casting a buffalo with wings as the sassy spokescreature for Buffalo Wild Wings be too on the nose? Well, yes. But Anomaly did it anyway, through the miracle of CGI, in its first work for the venue tagged “Let’s Go Sports Bar.”

“And no I don’t love Bdubs just because I’m a buffalo with wings,” the critter quips in the :30 below. “Frankly, that’s offensive and reductionist.”

Bdubs is a nickname for the place. Ads teach us so much. Also, the buffalo’s name is Hank, and he’s voiced in every-bro/snarky style by SNL alum Beck Bennett.

The sight of that wooly bully strutting among the diners is … Memorable? Brilliant? Stoopid? Oh, it’s no fantasyland where everyone has hands for heads, like Anomaly’s work for Topgolf. Still, Hank should raise a few smiles.

“When a brief like this comes in it’s an easy yes,” says Khara Wagner, president of the agency’s L.A. office. “Everyone in the building has a memory with the brand. But everyone in the country just spent the last few years enjoying beer, wings and sports at home. The challenge was to bring them back again or bring them in for the first time by showcasing the experience you can only get at Buffalo Wild Wings.”

If that includes a brand-boosting bison who heckles games playing on the bar TV, count us in!

“Because of the nature of what was in camera (everything but the buffalo) and what wasn’t (the buffalo), we ended up with nearly infinite variations of each scene,” recalls Anomaly L.A. CCO and partner Josh Fell. “Dialogue from take 4 could be used on video from take 1 and on and on. So, we leaned into it.”

Narrator Beck was on set “so that he and the other actors could find the natural rhythm of the jokes,” Fell says. “With Beck’s SNL background, he’s an endless source of riffs and improv, and knew how to bring that out of others. And man does he commit. His performance in ‘Hank Song’ is one of my favorite earworms ever.”

“It’s incredible, the amount of comments you can give (and we did!) when every piece of the actor can be changed at all times” during the editing process, Fell says.

“It was crucial to [animation studio] Untold and to us that we kept it as realistic as possible. Like, he has no top teeth. Did you know buffalo don’t have top teeth? But at the same time, Hank had to perform shame and excitement and anger and joy. Untold were amazing and amazingly patient with us as we helped find the line.”

“At the end of the day, we have a new best friend in Hank and the foundation for what we know is going to be a long, ridiculous and ridiculously crafted story to tell,” he says.

CREDITS

Brand: Buffalo Wild Wings 
Brand President: John Bowie
CMO: Tristan Meline
VP, Category Management: Jeff Baker
VP, Integrated Marketing Communication: Jared Bradley
Director, Advertising: Kristen Bowman
Associate Manager, Advertising: Josh Chang
Associate Manager, Advertising: Hannah Bartle
Agency: Anomaly L.A. 
Managing Partner/President: Khara Wagner 
Partner/Chief Creative Officer: Josh Fell 
Partner/Chief Strategy Officer: Aisea Laungaue 
Creative Director: Daniel Chen 
Creative Director: Jimmy Burton 
Sr. Copywriter: Adam Crouch 
Sr. Art Director: Kyle Chin 
Copywriter: Kevin Broberg
Art Director: Sarah Redmond 
Head of Production: Erika Madison 
Executive Producer: Helena Miller 
Senior Producer: Christine Hurty 
Associate Producer: Chloe Hurckes 
Associate Producer: Laura Richey 
Head of Brand Strategy: Nika Rastakhiz
Head of Communications Strategy: Johnny Corpuz
Communications Strategy Director: Will Millar
Associate Strategy Director: Sarah Cartwright 
Brand Strategy Director: Justin Clagette 
Group Business Director: Kylie Wu 
Business Director: Meghan Miloradovic 
Account Director: Michael Gobo 
Account Supervisor: Monique Luster 
Head of Business Affairs: Jana Nauman 
Business Affairs Manager: Svetlana Minassian 
Head of Creative Resourcing and Project Management: Chris Greve 
Project Director: Michelle Yee 
Project Manager: Hannah Cartelli 

Production Company: Smuggler 
Director: Tony Yacenda 
Executive Producer: Patrick Milling-Smith 
Executive Producer: Brian Carmody 
Executive Producer: Sue Yeon Ahn 
Head of Production: Alex Hughes 
Producer: Benjamin Gilovitz 
DOP: Adam Bricker 
PD: Leigh Ann Reagan-Barnes 

Editorial: Arcade Edit 
Editor: Laura Sanford 
Assistant Editor: Paulo Miramontes 
Cutting Asst Editor for socials: Paulo Miramontes 
Producer: Wendy Umanzor 
Executive Producer: Crissy D’Simone 
HOP: Megan Dahlman 

Animation + VFX + Finishing: Untold Studios
VFX Studio: Untold Studios 
EP: Sophie Harrison, Carl Phillips 
Producer: Helen Tang 
Producer: Jordan Malonga 
Executive Creative Director: Dave Fleet 
Creative Director: Adam Droy 
VFX Supervisor: Alex Grey 
Character Supervisor: Chloe Dawe 
Head of Animation: Tim Van Hussen 
VFX Lead: Kanishk Chouhan, Gez Wright, Alex Doyle 

VFX Artists: Lewis Pickston, Andreu Lucio, Bhavesh Budhkar, Emma Lepuil, Florian Rigollet, Thomas Huizer, Burjis Shroff, Naren NV, Natasha Santiparp, Ria Banerjee, Rachel Bosc – Bierne, Amelia Sturdy, Murali Krishna, Gez Wright, Phillipe Moine, Antoine Mariez, Aniket Pitale, Liv Donlan, Vinay Sharma, Sauce Villas, Cloe Adenot, Rosie Ashforth, Loic Resplandy, Mala Lal, Andrea Lacedelli, Amanda Cheung, Cameron Johnson, Rebecca Clay, Paul Stirling, Emine Arkin, Kia Coates, Emre Samioglu, James Russel, Greg Zolnowski, Jack Bond, Abhishek Changkakoty, Carlo Carfora 

Online: Rich Harris, Dave Rose, James Pratt, Pete Hughes 

Mix + Sound Design: LIME 
Sound Designer: Peter Lapinski
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan 
Associate Producer: Cassie Underwood 

Music: Consortium 
Track: Dustheads 
Composer: Seth Olinsky 
Music Post Producer: Maggie Flatley 
Music Editor: Justin Miller 

Color: Mom & Pop 
Digital Intermediate Colorist – Shane Reed 
MOM&POP Executive Producer – Ali Reed