Bud Billiken

Red illustration of bowtie with tan text above red text and black text on tan background.

The Bud Billiken Parade is an annual parade held in Chicago, Illinois. The parade started in 1929 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, a lawyer who started The Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper which was considered the most prominent at the time. The name Bud Billiken comes from a fictional character Abbott made up for columns in The Chicago Defender. The parade grew every year and is now the largest African-American parade in the United States of America. 

In 1999, the parade garnered the attention of several large corporate sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Burger King, Southwest Airlines, and many more. One of the sponsors was American Brewery Budweiser. Budweiser has used the slogan, “This Bud’s for you!” in advertising since 1979. The company has used the slogan as a toast to certain groups such as military personnel and sports teams among others.