The Quirky Genius of the Dos Equis Ad Campaign

http://www.slate.com/id/2218849/

by splat • 17 years ago

50 35 17 years ago

seasoup• 17 years ago

This has got to be my current favorite Ad campaign, using Chuck Norris style one liners. I want to be "the most interesting man in the world" I should drink Dos Equis.

joeyo• 17 years ago

It's also interesting that he always says, "I don't always drink beer, but..." I suppose that they are targeting men that mostly drink hard liquor?

mrtron2• 17 years ago

I think it is more aimed at making him look very sophisticated. He is above always drinking beer.

JimmyL2• 17 years ago

I don't read it that way. I think it's part of the character in the ads - for lack of a better word, he's too cool to always drink beer, and to always drink one particular brand. Doing so wouldn't be very...interesting of him.

Similar to what the article suggests:

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.

I think it's also designed to be a link that the guys watching the ad can hook onto. Most guys (and this ad is squarely aimed at guys) won't only drink beer at a bar, and if they do, they won't generally only have one type. So if you follow the analysis that he's a celebrity endorsement, what he's saying is Interesting people - like yourself - vary what they drink, so when it comes to beer, try this one.

dmoney• 17 years ago

Hard liquor or alcopops. I read it as targeting men who don't really like beer, but drink it sometimes to fit in. "Drink Dos Equis: it doesn't suck as much as other beers."

BigZaphod• 17 years ago

I agree. I love these commercials. Perhaps it's because the dude himself claims, "I don't always drink beer..." Which, perhaps counter-intuitively, ends up being a more powerful endorsement than if he unrealistically only and always drank their beer. The Indiana Jones/James Bond antics the character has lived through are hilarious. It's like, "what if these super heroic people from the movies actually existed - and what would they be like in retirement?"

teamonkey2• 17 years ago

> Perhaps it's because the dude himself claims, "I don't always drink beer..."

Not only does he not always drink beer, but when he does, he only "prefers" Dos Equis. So vague and non-commital. What an enigma!

Bill Murray's character isn't quite as cool, but the advert reminds me of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zizou.

omouse3• 17 years ago

Ahhhhhh yeah, I'm going to have to buy some of this beer just because the ads are so good. Much better than all the other beer ads.

absconditus4• 17 years ago

While I do like their commercials, Dos Equis is a horrible product. Why put so much money and effort into avoiding having to make a better product?

jbarciauskas• 17 years ago

Obviously, creating a better product would not be difficult - people brew more delicious beer in their basements every day. Creating a better-tasting product at the same price point and volume as Dos Equis, however, is probably extremely difficult.

absconditus4• 17 years ago

Trader Joe's manages to offer some very affordable beer that is higher quality than Dos Equis.

jgilliam• 17 years ago

The ads are created by a company that imports the beer and markets it in the U.S. So they actually can't make the beer better.

look_lookatme• 17 years ago

Horrible product? Really? Have you had much Mexican beer? It's no worse than Modelo or Tecate or Pacifico. Much, much better than Corona.

absconditus4• 17 years ago

All Mexican beer is bad. It isn't their forte.

joez• 17 years ago

The ad campaign does flow through well on radio. I heard this one the other day and I knew right away that it was a Dos Equis.

"Most songs about love are written for him, about him, or by him.

He'd never initiate a conversation about the weather, even in a typhoon.

He's against cruelty to animals, but isn't afraid to issue a stern warning.

Whatever side of the tracks he's currently on is the right side. If he crossed them, he would still be the right side.

He won the same lifetime achievement award twice."

martythemaniak• 17 years ago

I have to say I love this line of commercials and it actually works. Last time I was at the beer store, I asked for a Dos Equis specifically because I'd never tried it and this commercial made me aware of it.

Alas, they were out of stock.

JimmyL2• 17 years ago

It's somewhat unfortunate that the beer is so terrible - like I'd forgotten how much I don't like Dos Equis until I ordered one (as a result of the ad).

ramchip• 17 years ago

It's refreshing to see a beer ad that doesn't take the viewer for an idiot. What we see here in Montreal right now is just ridiculous:

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/1517/bud1t.jpg

smokinn2• 17 years ago

I hate those ads.

They're the very definition of "uncanny valley". The women are just real looking enough so that they look human from a distance but closer they're very obviously cg plasticy. It's so creepy.

omouse3• 17 years ago

Haven't they aired those exact same ads every year since the dawn of man? >:(

teamonkey2• 17 years ago

I agree, I find them pretty offensive on several levels and they're all over Montreal right now.

The province of Quebec is packed with micro-breweries and has an enormous selection of excellent artisanal beers. People here like their beer: I've never seen anyone order a Bud here. They're going for the lowest possible denominator in a really tough market.

In fact, it's almost like they're targeting adolescents, certainly 18 year old college kids. A summer camp staffed by cheerleaders? The more you think about it the more appalling it seems.

domodomo• 17 years ago

America exports Budweiser to other countries? I'm so sorry.

mahmud• 17 years ago

Bud tastes way better in Prague though.

smokinn2• 17 years ago

I suppose it's revenge for us exporting Molson. I'm sorry about that too. =(

ramidarigaz• 17 years ago

Some friends and I once devised a Dos Equis ad campaign. Never did anything with it, but it was awesome.

Goes something like this:

Wide sweeping view of a town in Mexico, dusty and full of life

Voice (singing): Dos Equis, a Mexican beer

Voice: Ray, the guy I buy it from

Ray: Hola!

Voice: Me, the guy, I buy beer for

Voice: Far, a long way to the bar

sweeping shot of the town

Voice: So, I think I'll have a beer

Ray offers a beer

Voice: La, lalalalalala, HAVE ANOTHER BEER

A few people have gathered around Ray

Tea vendor offers tea to the camera

Voice: Tea? No thanks, I'll have a beer

Voice: That brings us back to....

A small crowd has gathered, all singing now

Large chorus: Dos Equis, a Mexican beer

Shot of Mexican flag

LC: Ray, the guy I buy it from

Crowd, with Ray at the front shouts

Crowd: HOLA!!!

LC: Me, the guy, I buy beer for

LC: Far, a long way to the bar

By now, the entire town is partying

LC: So, I think I'll have a beer

Sound of hundreds of tankards clinking

LC: La, lalalalalala, HAVE ANOTHER BEER

Crowd cheers Crowd mocks tea vendor

LC: Tea? No thanks, I'll have a beer

LC: That brings us back to....

Fireworks start going off

Entire Town: Dos

fireworks

ET: Equis,

fireworks

ET: a Mexican beer

fireworks

ET: Ray, the guy I buy it from

Ray, completely naked, jumps off the roof using a Mexican flag as a parachute, screaming

Ray: HOLAAAAAAAA!!!

ET: Me, the guy, I buy beer for

ET: Far, a long way to the bar

Entire town marching down the road, out of the town

ET: So, I think I'll have a beer

Crowd cheers

Fireworks

ET: La, lalalalalala, HAVE ANOTHER BEER

Crowd cheers louder

More fireworks

ET: Tea? No thanks, I'll have a beer

Tea vendor throws a bucket full of tea over the crowd

ET: That brings us back to....

Town explodes, fireworks everywhere, buildings shattering into shards that turn into splashes of beer. A huge column of smoke now rises where the town used to be. Green flashes are seen in the cloud of smoke, and the Millennium Falcon swoops out of the smoke, with two Tie fighters hot on its tail.

Fade to logo

jrockway• 17 years ago

I skipped most of the middle, but the ending did not disappoint!

omouse3• 17 years ago

The great thing is that they can hit the radio well, and their websites are great: http://dosequis.com/academy/

madair• 17 years ago

He is the larger than life fictional character that we sarcastically refer to Chuck Norris as.

eshelt• 17 years ago

Although I've never been a fan of the beer, I love the marketing tactics Dos Equis took here. The humor is very relevant, as mentioned earlier, to the "Chuck Norris doesn't breathe, he holds air hostage" approach. These jokes are still is extremely popular, and Dos Equis was creative enough to put their own spin on it. If they got us all talking about it, then they must have done something right. I just hope they don't play it out like the Geico did with the cavemen.

Gibbon• 17 years ago

The Dos Equis ads never fail to amuse me on account of the alleged college application essay I read sometime in the early days of the web.

EDIT: Apparently written, in 1990, by musician and author, Hugh Gallagher, as a satiric personal essay turned internet meme.

3A Essay

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang-gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat.400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA.

I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet been to college.

The Quirky Genius of the Dos Equis Ad Campaign

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