stay thirsty my friends

I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.

Dos Equis. What an awesome campaign. What an awesome idea. What an awesome way of elevating a relatively unknown product to a place where people are wondering, if not just thinking about the product, of not actually buying to maybe to try it.

Look. I should have written about this campaign, and idea, a long time ago. In fact so long ago I shelved the idea thinking what the hell  … it’s too late.

But this campaign keeps coming back and is still interesting.

You may not know that this is the second attempt at using this “most interesting man” character and development of product personality.

The actor behind the ‘most interesting man’, Jonathan Goldsmith, has been playing this part since 2006. And I believe the first campaign of commercials was in 2007.

Apparently it didn’t kick ass originally and went away for a long while. But someone, either at Dos Equis or Euro RSCG (who created the campaign), must have seen enough promise in the concept to stick with it because the same spots started running again the following year. And this time around the “most interesting man in the world” struck a chord and this new beer icon was born.

So. Pretty much anyone who has a TV is aware of, “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” campaign.

The salt-and-pepper haired gentleman with the smooth voice and a taste for adventure. I am addicted to him. I admit it. it is the things that make him the ‘most interesting’ … well … interesting:

He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels.

He can speak French… in Russian.

He is the life of the party, even when he does not attend.

Policemen often question him simply because he’s interesting.

He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt.

He lives vicariously through himself.

He goes to museums and they let him touch the art.

Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number.

Years ago, he built a city out of blocks. Today, over six hundred thousand people live and work there.

If he were to give you directions, you’d never get lost, and you’d arrive at least 5 minutes early.

People hang on his every word, even the prepositions.

He is the only man to ever ace a Rorschach test.

Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear.

His personality is so magnetic; he is unable to carry credit cards.

He never says something tastes like chicken. Not even chicken.

He could disarm you with his looks… or his hands. Either way.

His charm is so contagious; vaccines have been created for it.

And his closing line “Stay thirsty my friends.”

So. I am not gonna give you any brand or branding gobbledygook because this was a great idea and it builds a personality for the product.

Period.

(all the other high falutin’ branding experts can pile on about all the other buzzworthy things associated to building a brand using some impossible to read gant charts).

I don’t care if it’s a shitty product <well … I do actually … but that’s a different post>.

But. If I drink a Dos Equis I can almost guarantee people will think I am interesting (or at least joke about it).

Once again. Period. Stop. Good enough. Job well done.

Few advertising campaigns actually go beyond advertising and begin shaping the kind of character development you kind of dream of when you start marketing a product. And this one is doing just that.

And it’s not just me. People love this campaign. I know they do (how?).

Because Millward Brown says so.

Dos Equis has been able to take an extremely popular tongue in cheek character and through targeted placement through a variety of tactics get people to send it around the web (and the world and just talk about it) and make it successful according to market research by Millward Brown. The TV campaign is in the top five percent of most enjoyable ads in U.S. research history.

The campaign covers TV, print, interactive online, radio and event promotions. Videos and ads were posted on YouTube as well as a number of other sites with the intent of having consumers appreciate the ‘out of the realm of possibility’ character and send it to one another.

Also. The website is pretty awesomely done.

So. What makes the character appealing?

The campaign idea (I guess I could call the guy a mnemonic like tactic) is not insulting.

It’s so deeply satisfying because it is intriguing, well written and so outrageous it is fascinating to see how “interesting” the most interesting man can be.

Like any great fictional character, even though it’s completely made up, it’s so outrageously true. It lives on in people’s minds because it takes real attributes and stretches them to the unbelievable boundary <which is funny in its extremes>.

This fictional character is a cross between Ernest Hemingway, Bill Murray, Burt Reynolds and some Count from a nonexistent place in central Europe. This guy harkens back to the old concept of what a man’s man should be. To the exponential factor. The nth degree.

In love with women and booze, but classier than most, he travels the world seeking experiences (“his beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s entire body.”). Awesome.

Lastly. The part I truly love. Possibly the most interesting thing about the commercials is that he never really commits to promoting Dos Equis.  He only prefers it. The closest he comes is with the tag line:

“I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.”

So. The most interesting man in the world is not an avid beer drinker but when he does want one, the most interesting man must select an interesting beer to quaff (or if you are the most interesting man do you sip, gulp, chug or drain?). Whatever, the ads are totally awesome.

Here are a sampling of Three Most Interesting Man commercials (enjoy my friends):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ym2Jma04qo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYdwe3ArFWA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9GYocBqGyA&feature=related

Don’t stay thirsty. Grab a Dos Equis!