In 2006 Don Equis launched a ground-breaking ad campaign featuring Jonathan Goldsmith as the “most interesting man in the world.” Now they’ve announced that the hero of the ads has decided to set his sights beyond our own world and is looking to conquer our sister planet. He will be appearing in a final spot going off to Mars. E.J. Schultz wrote:

• The “most interesting man in the world” campaign was immensely successfully and has been rated the number one ad campaign in the beer industry.
• Sales more than doubled in the five years after the campaign launched – and even in 2015 sales grew 10.2%.
• The campaign’s success is thought to be in part because the brand eschewed the use of younger actors that other beer brands are fond of.
• Instead by having an elderly man as the star it is thought that he is not a threat or reminder of what viewers haven’t achieved yet. Instead he is an ideal to strive for rather than a mirror for comparison.
• The work was lucrative for the actor who got the role after a general casting call – he is thought to potentially earn over $1 million in 2016.
• The actor, however, is 77, and Dos Equis now sponsors the College Football Playoffs. The brand is looking to find a new star that better suits its image as brand sponsor.
• Executives are consulting with the people behind James Bond – believing that their expertise in picking different actors to play spins on the same character is the way forwards.

The full article has quotes from Goldsmith and describes the transition that the brand is trying to make. Read it here.

Source: Ad Age