The Most Interesting Man in the World???

I don’t usually drink beer……

the-most-interesting-man-in-the-world

He once caught the Loch Ness Monster…with a cane pole, but threw it back

When I first heard the Dos Equis ad campaign with “The Most Interesting Man in the World” sometime around 2006 I was amazed.  I couldn’t stop laughing.  They were hilarious, outrageous, and preposterous.   The video commercials with their flashbacks were just as funny, flamboyant, and (almost) unbelievable.  The stunts were right at the far edge of ‘possible’.

His tears cure cancer, too bad he never cries.

The audio narration, either accompanying the videos or solo on the radio, was brilliant:  Creative, Imaginative, and Unbelievable!  But we all believed, or at least wanted to.  And we laughed uncontrollably.  When we heard a new line we couldn’t wait to get home and share it with family and friends.  And when it came on the radio or TV again we told everyone around to ‘be quiet and listen to this new line’.

He taught Chuck Norris martial arts

And that, I believe, is the first key to this phenomenon.   We wanted to believe everything about the MIMINTW.  Yes, it was all implausible, if not impossible.  But it sparked our imagination and our inner adventurer.  We thought or wished ‘if only’, I could do that!

His signature won a Pulitzer.

The second key to this campaign’s success was Jonathan Goldsmith, the REAL MIMINTW.  He looked and played the part perfectly.   He was sort of a mix of your rich, genial, great uncle, Ernest Hemingway, and a retired James Bond.  Young kids wanted to grow up to be him and us older folk wondered how we could catch up with his exploits.

Sharks have a week dedicated to him.

When he announced his impending one-way trip to Mars (i.e., retirement), I believed that the advertising campaign had reached a logical and honorable end.  And I was happy with that.  I didn’t feel any loss or sadness.  The end was natural and acceptable.

He once won the Tour-de-France, but was disqualified for riding a unicycle

Shows how much I know about advertising.  Apparently a 15% increase in sales was just too much incentive and now we have a new MIMINTW.   Except he’s NOT.

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

Maybe I’m a bit biased, or just pissed off that Dos Equis couldn’t just let this go gracefully, but this ad campaign sequel so far sucks.  I’m sure the actor (Augustin Legrand) is a fine person and, truth be told, if Dos Equis offered me the spot I’d jump on it without hesitation.  But 1) he doesn’t look the part and 2) the writing is just a pale imitation of the original.

He once parallel parked a freight train

I’m sorry, the new MIMINTW is just too young.  This character needs a certain ‘gravitas’ that comes from a life time of extraordinary achievements.   This new guy just doesn’t have it.  The beard is there, the weathered face, and a great voice.   But he needs a bit of grey and that look in his eyes that makes you believe you’re just getting the Reader’s Digest Abbreviated version of his life.  And that’s just not there, yet.

No less than 25 Mexican folk songs have been written about his beard

Finally, and most importantly, the new scripts are, IMHO, a bit lame.  Clearly the original writers have moved on to bigger and better things and that loss shows in the new commercials.  The new ads are indeed clever (Air-boat in the Sahara!).  But they don’t seem to have the almost impossible feel:
….. Air-boat in the Sahara?  Totally possible!!
….. Kicking a coconut?  Seems feasible, if painful.
….. Running through the streets of some Asian megalopolis with a piglet and a beautiful woman at your side?   Absolutely!  (Maybe not with the gun toting guy chasing me …. but maybe.)
….. Pulling a soccer ball out of a well?  Sure, I could do that tomorrow.

He is fluent in all languages, including three that he only speaks

And that’s the problem!  These feats need to be fanciful, fantastic, even fantasy!   On the boarder of impossible!   There should be nothing the MIMINTW does that leaves me with a shrug and the thought “Sure, I could do that tomorrow”.

When in Rome, they do as HE does

I do hope that Dos Equis improves their scripts and feats over the next few months.  I may never learn to accept the ‘new guy’ as the real MIMINTW but if Dos Equis gets back to the ‘implausible, nearly impossible’ lines it will at least be entertaining and funny.  Until that time its just NOT The Most Interesting Man in the World anymore but a pale imitator.

He has won the lifetime achievement award, twice.

….. but when I do, its a locally brewed craft beer.

For a few more quotes:
http://www.livin3.com/100-most-interesting-man-in-the-world-quotes


Comments

The Most Interesting Man in the World??? — 1 Comment

  1. Lol I’ve never seen the original adverts but now I’m curious and hooked….Thank you. (P.s very witty and funny written piece – a pleasure to read. 🙂 )

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