A year after Dos Equis retired his title by sending him on a one-way trip to Mars, ex–Most Interesting Man in the World Jonathan Goldsmith has found a new product to make incredibly engrossing — Astral Tequila. His first ad for the company came out this morning, and it’s literally built around him saying, “I told you I don’t always drink beer.”
He doesn’t mention Dos Equis in the ad, or how interesting he used to be — and if push came to shove, it’s probably best to say he’s “maximally intriguing,” since neither Astral nor Goldsmith has any claim whatsoever on the Most Interesting Man. That character belongs to Dos Equis’s parent company Heineken, and is technically still out there making commercials, albeit not very popular ones anymore.
The similarities between Astral’s spot and the ads Goldsmith did for Dos Equis are pretty clear. (Just to name the ones that spring immediately to mind: the acoustic guitar, the dark bar with plush leather seating, the female arm candy, and the fact Goldsmith’s character looks basically identical — to the point of it seeming like he wandered in lost on his way to shoot a Dos Equis commercial). So far, Heineken doesn’t seem terribly pissed about its former employee’s new gig. A spokesperson for Heineken tells Ad Age: “We thank Jonathan Goldsmith for his long-time contributions to the brand, and wish him the best in his next endeavors.”
A rep for Astral, meanwhile, argues that their Most Interesting–ish Man is in the clear because the brand “has obliged by all trademark legal requirements.” Still, their next ad should probably steer clear of a narrator who explains that Goldsmith’s shirts never wrinkle and his past employers never sue, simply out of respect.
