Rude Dog

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Rude Dog was a white cartoon dog developed by Sun Sportswear in the 1980s as part of a line of surfing- and skateboarding-related clothing. The character was a stylized version of a Bull Terrier, and the name "Rude" had the dual purpose of glorifying bad behavior and referring to the Rude boy subculture of Ska that was popular at the time. The majority of the clothing used angular artwork and neon colors, in keeping with the fashion trend shared by Quiksilver, Vision Street Wear, PCH, and many others.

To further market the character, the Sun company also developed a Saturday morning cartoon entitled Rude Dog and the Dweebs. Rude Dog and the Dweebs was as colorful as the clothing it advertised. The punkish pooch himself drove a 1956 pink Cadillac across a backdrop of Beverly Hills imagined in hues of pastel and neon.

Rude Dog ran an auto shop, where he was assisted by the Dweebs, a motley group of dog assistants. The team included the stuttering Caboose, the uptight Brit Winston, a Jack Nicholson-esque Reggie, Southern-accented Barney, Sach, who sounded like Ed Wynn, and a friendly Chihuahua named Tweek. Rude Dog himself spoke with a Brooklyn accent and had a girlfriend named Gloria.

Their feline foe was the vicious Seymour, and joining him in the chase was the ubiquitous dog catcher Herman and his assistant Rot. Each week, Rude Dog and company balanced their auto shop duties with attempts to elude the persistent Seymour, Herman, and Rot.

The show aired on CBS for one season. There was a rumor that the reason for the cancelation of the show was because Rude Dog looked suspiciously like Budweiser's commercial creature of the time, Spuds McKenzie. This similarity also led to some schools banning clothing featuring Rude Dog.