Want to know more about the World's Most Interesting Man?

Ad Age has a fun article on "The World's Most Interesting Man,"Jonathan Goldsmith. "Convinced that he could make it in Hollywood, he packed up his old Volkswagen and headed West. Once there, however, "nothing happened," he said. So to make a living he drove a garbage truck filled with industrial waste. He always had a blue dress-suit at the ready in case he landed that elusive acting interview."

He did do quite a bit of acting, but never made it big. When he went in for the Dos Equis gig..
. "Basically it was just a cattle call," he said. "I got into the room, and there were hundreds of people and a big crowd waiting outside, and everybody looked like Juan Valdez. And I said "This is crazy -- they are not looking for me.' I went in when it was my turn and all I could think about was "My God, I've got to move my car by 4 o'clock or I'm going to get a massive ticket. " "

What Dos Equis was looking for was a lead actor for a campaign that would break the beer-advertising mold. While so many spots featured fancy cars, hot babes or exotic locations, the Dos Equis team discovered that "more than anything else, [drinkers] really wanted to be seen as interesting by their friends," said Senior Brand Director Paul Smailes.

Rather than cast a young actor, Dos Equis went with an older, worldly protagonist. The logic was that the target of young men would not "see him as a threat or as a reminder of accomplishments they hadn't achieved yet," Mr. Smailes said. He "needed to be someone to work toward, vs. a mirror of themselves."


Read more about The World's Most Interesting Man here.