IT sounds like a strangled victim’s last gasp and it’s echoing down every school corridor across the land - “WHASSUP”.
Teenage boys have taken the infuriating catchphrase from the new Budweiser advert and made it their own. For the benefit of anyone who has spent the past few weeks in outer Mongolia, the 30-second commercial consists of four male friends in different locations speaking to each other on the phone. The conversation consists of the lads shouting “Whassup” and “blaaaargh” to one another.
Not much there to capture the imagination you might think, but the phrase is never fa from juvenile lips.
One teacher in Leicester was so used to “Whassup” being shouted across the classroom, he unthinkingly addressed the head with the same snappy greeting.
You may be hoping that the trend has reached its peak but don’t bet on it. The jobbing actors from the advert, who understandably cannot believe their luck, are now on a tour of Britain.
And four more commercials will be screened in the run-up to Christmas: “Call Waiting”, “Pizza Guy”, “Wasabi” and “Girlfriend”.
There’s only one kind of language Budweiser will understand: stop buying the beer.