Whassup?!" Formally enunciated, it's both inquiry and greeting. But according to Charles Stone III, director and costar of five winning Bud-weiser commercials, the preferred pronunciation is "Whaazzaaah?!!"—rendered with tongue dangling, just about to the floor. Male bonding-wise, it's the verbal equivalent of the chest bump.

The ads, which began airing in December, feature director Stone, 34, and his three real-life best friends—actor Paul Williams, 32, bouncer Scott Brooks, 36, and filmmaker Fred Thomas, 30—exuberantly exchanging "Whaazzaaah?!!"s. After 240 fruitless auditions, ad producer Ken Quiet finally gave the okay for Stone and his pals to play themselves. "You just can't fake the dialogue they have going on," says Quiet. Spoofed on Saturday Night Live and adopted as an NBA player mantra, "Whassup?" has clearly mined the pop culture mother lode. Says Stone: "Men feel validated, especially those seen as couch potatoes by their wives, and women are like, 'That's my husband!' "

But to the four, who grew up together in Philadelphia, "It's a greeting we used 16 years ago," says Stone. One to which he paid tribute in his 1998 short film True, a glimpse into the cryptic, primal communication between guys watching sports. Williams draws an analogy: "It's like two girls on the phone, watching a soap. There's silence, and then one says, 'I can't believe he did that!' Then silence until the commercial break."

Friendship clearly has its rewards. With more ads on the way and movie and sitcom offers pouring in, the guys are relishing the limelight. They attended the Grammys, sat courtside with Spike Lee at a Knicks game and met Florence Henderson. "We said 'Whassup?' to Mrs. Brady!" shout Williams and Brooks in unison, gleefully.

One perk they didn't get: "People say, 'Y'all must be getting mad boxes of free beer now,' " says Stone. "And I'm like, 'We haven't gotten one!' " Whassup widat?