RoboSpuds

History

A now-defunct robotics company called Phonetica One was supposed to reveal a robotic version of Spuds Mackenzie by January, 1988. The animatronic is said to spit, slobber, crush beer cans with its paws, and talk like Robin Leach, host of the show, Life Styles of the Rich and Famous. The animatronic should have been able to cross its legs, wrap its paws behind its neck, smile, spin it’s head 360 degrees, and poke out its tongue. Phonetica One did think about giving it a feature where you could ask it to lift its hind leg, but they believed it would offend some people at Anheuser-Busch. A spokesman for Anheuser-Busch refused acknowledgement of any collaboration with Gillard, when questioned by the Denver Post.

According to the article, John Marley was an electronics engineer for Phonetica, who invented a way for computers to recognize spoken words. This technology was used in their series of robotic toys which include a koala, a lion, and a Shar Pei dog. Bill declared that these robots would become obsolete, with the existence of the Spuds prototype. He also stated that the robot would be made with foam, vacuum-formed plastic and flexible cables. The robot was developed by Phonetica engineer, Vic Lang, and the article claims that “Spuds will mechanically duplicate any kind of muscular movement.”

Article Transcript

September 28, 1987

The source can be found here.

Firm to tap Spuds' fame with robot

Associated Press COLORADO CITY - By January, a team of engineers and physicists at Phonetica One Inc. should unveil a lifelike robot clone of Bud Light beers spokescanine, Spuds MacK-enzie. The Spuds robot will spit and slobber, crush beer cans in its paws and talk they hope just like Robin Leach, the effusive host of television’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. RoboSpuds will be able to cross his legs, wrap his paws behind his neck, smile, spin his head 360 degrees and stick out his tongue. Phonetica One thought about having him lift a hind leg on command but figured that function might offend some folks at Anheuser-Busch, the St. Louis brewery that made a Staffordshire terrier America’s newest sex symbol.

A spokesman for Anheuser-Busch refused to acknowledge any deal with Gillard to a Denver Post query.

"You'll have to pinch him to see if hes real," said Bill Gillard, Phonetica's bearded, 41-year-old founder and president, "And people will wonder how they taught a dog to do those things."

John Marley, an electronics engineer at Phonetica One, invented a way for computers to recognize spoken words. His invention already has been tried on the companys original line of products, a pet koala bear and a robot Shar-pei dog. They recognize certain commands and respond to them by purring, talking or scampering around a room.

They will be obsolete with the Spuds prototype, Gillard said. Spuds will be made of foam, vacuum-formed plastic and flexible cables. Developed by Phonetica engineer, Vic Lang, Spuds will mechanically duplicate any kind of muscular movement."

Getty Images Photo

Embed from Getty Images

The description for this photo confuses me (hover your cursor over the image and click "see more"). Not sure if they were trying to say the animatronic was to be called “Spuds the Wonder Dog”, but that could be possible? The description simply says the dog in the photo is a mockup, but doesn’t refer to it as a robot or mention if it has anything to do with RoboSpuds. However, Bill Gillard is in this photo, so this could be a mockup for the Spuds animatronic.

According to the source, the photo was taken on 27 September, 1987, which was one day before an article on RoboSpuds was published in a newspaper from The Daily Sentinel.

The dog in the photo resembles a plush version of Spuds with a plastic nose, standing on four legs. It wears a black and white suit that also has two black buttons and a black bow tie.