Dos Equis is reviving a popular character in advertising history, the ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’. The new spot was brought to life via Le Pub NYC and played by actor Jonathan Goldsmith, now 87.
The figure is being adapted for digital and social storytelling as the beer brand teases the return of its ‘Stay Thirsty’ platform debuting during the College Football Playoff championship on ESPN.
The Publicis Groupe shop was named Dos Equis’ creative agency last year, succeeding Omnicom’s BBDO.
The ad, from Le Pub NYC, sees the character return from the one-way trip to Mars he took in his last ad appearance a decade ago.
The new spot reveals that he suffered from amnesia after bumping his head exiting the capsule back on Earth, prompting him to lead an uninteresting life. He then rediscovers his former self after finding a bottle of Dos Equis in the back of a garage refrigerator.
A second ad will run during the NFC Championship Game on 25 January on Fox.
The Heineken-owned beer brand taps the character’s original actor Jonathan Goldsmith, along with the campaign’s original voiceover, Will Lyman.
See below for a compilation of all the previous ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ ads.
By reviving the ‘Stay Thirsty’ platform, the brewer aims to reignite awareness and growth for a brand that tripled in size under the campaign, executives say—but has since encountered sales struggles.
The approach also reflects how marketers are increasingly revisiting proven creative rather than starting from scratch.
“The best ideas and the truly magic ideas stand the test of time. Sometimes marketers walk away from things too early,” Heineken USA’s CMO Ali Payne said.
The original ‘Stay Thirsty’ campaign was created by Euro RSCG Worldwide (now Havas Worldwide) in 2006.
“He said, ‘I don’t always drink beer.’ He drank other things than beer, which was quite a surprising thing to say in a beer ad—but it’s true. We all drink in repertoire,” Payne said.
The character’s age, even in his heyday, was unusual in an industry targeting men in their 20s and 30s, but those consumers saw him as an aspirational figure.
“He broke those rules that an older gentleman could have this interesting, story-rich life. People couldn’t put a finger on where he was actually from,” Payne said.
Dos Equis hopes to rekindle that fascination by reintroducing the Man for a new generation of beer drinkers.
Rather than rerunning old spots, the new campaign updates the character for the present day, leaning into digital and social storytelling while preserving the ‘Stay Thirsty’ tagline and signature one-liners that defined the original work. “His phone is addicted to him,” is one example.
The reintroduction is unfolding in chapters, which began on 8 January with a series of unbranded teaser ads and social posts built around “the least most interesting man in the world”. The clips show the character ironing socks, emptying his dryer’s lint trap and building ships in bottles. “When adventure calls, he lets it go to voicemail,” one spot notes. In another, Goldsmith said: “I don’t always eat yogurt, but when I do, I prefer plain yogurt. … Stay yogurty, my friends”.
According to figures from Beer Marketer’s Insights, Dos Equis hit an all-time high with a little more than 2 million barrels sold to wholesalers in 2016. The brand has lost volume every year since 2021, dipping to 1.575 million barrels in 2024, the last full year for which the trade publication has complete figures.
The relaunch is backed by a 20 to 25 per cent increase in marketing investment, Payne said, which would make this Dos Equis’s biggest campaign in years. She said success will be measured in market share and volume, particularly in a competitive import segment where the brand has historically punched above its weight in awareness.
Consumer testing suggests the time is right for a return, Payne added. Internal research showed 97 per cent brand recall for the original advertising, even after a decade off air, and that more than 80 per cent of consumers said they would welcome the character’s return.
“Today’s young adults—who were grade schoolers when the original campaign was retired—are not strangers to the Most Interesting Man either,” Payne said, noting he lived on in memes and social media. “What appeals to them is the entertainment,” she said.
Payne was careful to distinguish the campaign’s return from nostalgia marketing, opting to frame the strategy as using “familiarity” to cut through an oversaturated media environment.
“With all the noise today, familiarity becomes really important for brands,. But it can’t just be nostalgia. You have to evolve it and make sure it’s relevant for the world consumers are living in now”.
