The Most Interesting Man in the World: A Unique Marketing Strategy

You've probably seen the commercials for Dos Equis beer: The Most Interesting Man in the World. The ads feature Jonathan Goldsmith, who plays an older, suave character that has many fascinating traits about him, such as:

• "Sharks have a week dedicated to him."
• "He is the life of parties he has never attended."
• "If he were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight off the urge to thank him."

And my personal favorite: "His business card simply says I'll call you."

You get the idea.

These commercials are unique because they don't fit the beer commercial stereotype. Most beer ads feature young men (probably in their 20s) partying in a bar or on a beach, along with beautiful young coeds. The message for these commercials is: You can't have fun unless you drink such-and-such branded beer.

But what makes the Dos Equis commercials really unique is that this man is not an obvious and die-hard cheerleader for the beer. His tag line at the end of the commercials is "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis."

The Most Interesting Man in the World only "prefers" Dos Equis. He's not even a big beer drinker. The commercial is set up so that the character is so unique and interesting, that even his minimal beer drinking is important only because he "prefers" Dos Equis.

The message is not "If you drink this beer you can party like these guys" or "You will get all these hot girls." Rather, the message of the Dos Equis commercial is: If you drink our beer, you might be a little like The Most Interesting Man in the World.

The website Slate had an article about this very commercial:

Generally, a brand icon will be an all-out cheerleader. Imagine Tony the Tiger admitting that he doesn't always eat cereal for breakfast, but that when he does, he tends to eat Frosted Flakes, like, most of the time. Doesn't have quite the same impact as "They're Grrrrrrreat!"

The article continues:

But the most interesting man hasn't actually been conceived as a brand icon—a la Mr. Clean or Ronald McDonald. He's more like a celebrity endorser. One who happens to be fictional. He doesn't shill with brio for the simple reason that it would undercut his claim to awesomeness. The most interesting man in the world, by definition, would not be found enthusiastically endorsing a mass-market consumer product.

While I generally despise the term "outside the box," this commercial certainly fits into that category. The marketing firm for Dos Equis went in the complete opposite direction as 99% of other beer commercials out there. And it's that type of "outside the box" strategy that makes The Most Interesting Man in The World commercials so interesting and memorable.