The true story behind the 9/11 Budweiser commercial that only aired one time

ST. LOUIS, Mo. --  An emotional, powerful television ad featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales aired only one time during Super Bowl XXXVI on February 3, 2002.

In the ad, the horses pay tribute to the memory of the fallen of September 11th with an unforgettable, breath-taking bow. Many people have never forgotten the commercial that only aired one time.

Anheuser-Busch's creative team came up with the concept and moved heaven and earth to make the commercial. They had to get approval from members of Congress, the advertising community and from New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani.

"We filmed in New York City," said Bob Lachky, former executive vice president of Anheuser-Busch Global Creative. "We had a helicopter going over the Brooklyn Bridge. Mayor Guiliana let us into the city -- the only film company of any sort right after 9-11. To actually come into air space with our helicopter to film the Clydesdale... the hitch coming into Battery Park and it was amazing...just amazing."

It was amazing, especially considering how New York was a city still hurting. And yet a St. Louis-based company, touched by the pain of the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil, took a risk to help one of our favorite cities and our nation heal.

The company's logo is absent throughout the entire video until the very end.

Budweiser did air an updated version of the commercial on September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attacks -- however the original commercial (below) has only aired one time.