Staying thirsty has been numero uno since 2006.
The judge stands when he enters the courtroom. Opposing counsel submit motions to recognize his coolness. He brings his own gavel, and no one minds when he uses it.
He doesn’t always drink beer, he doesn’t always fly to Mars, and he doesn’t always file suit. But when he does any of these things, he makes them very interesting.
He’s the most interesting TV pitchman in the world. His name is Jonathan Goldsmith, but you have known him as the dashing, silver-bearded guru who called you his friend, and encouraged you to stay thirsty. His 10-year, wildly successful run as Dos Equis Beer’s Most Interesting Man in the World recently wrapped. He left, epic as ever, on a one-way solo mission (he made it look more like a jaunt) to Mars. It was a compelling end to an awesome ad campaign, but the question must be asked: Was the iconic character allowed to fade away gracefully, or was he forced out due to a rancorous series of lawsuits and countersuits lobbed between Goldsmith and his erstwhile talent agency?
Like many a nasty breakup, this one has a fiscal component. The agency, Gold-Levin Talent, allege that they haven’t received their contractual commissions from Mr. Goldsmith’s work since 2014. Goldsmith retorts that Barbara Buky, the agent who landed him the Dos Equis gig, never worked for the agency in question, and she’s in fact now married to Mr. Goldsmith (how could she possibly say no to his proposal?). His countersuit contends that the agency violated a confidentiality clause, and damaged his reputation by disclosing elements of his contract.
Heineken USA, owners of Dos Equis, called the legal contretemps, “a personal matter for Jonathan that does not concern” the brand. Off the record, and before the announcement that the campaign was ending, sources close to the company struck a cautious note, saying that since the legal fight is a business matter only, not a “salacious lawsuit,” they were holding out hope against any brand blowback.
Just weeks later The Most Interesting Man was on his way, some might say exiled, to Mars.
Although it seemed at first that the brand was standing by their Interesting Man, it very well could be that the suit and countersuit (and more importantly, the press thereby generated) was an unacceptable risk. These brand managers, like most, are smart enough not to buy into the dubious “any publicity is good publicity” theory (just ask Chipotle how accurate that trope is).
Under the circumstances, and given that in a lot of people’s minds Jonathan Goldsmith is Dos Equis, they’ve probably made the right call. But the position they found themselves in demonstrates the lurking peril hiding deep inside every successful advertising campaign: Associating your brand too closely with any one person, place, or idea means that your brand rises and falls with the fortunes of the same.
The C4:
Uno. Actor Jonathan Goldsmith represented Dos Equis beer as The Most Interesting Man in the World from 2006 to 2016. It has been one of the most successful TV advertising campaigns of the 21st century, and has made Goldsmith’s character one of the most recognizable in modern pop culture.
Dos. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot, actually. Dos Equis hitched its wagon to Goldsmith’s star (it’s usually the other way around in advertising). Once the brand was indelibly linked with the visage and personality of The Most Interesting Man, any negative publicity for him equaled negative publicity for them.
Tres. And not to be terribly insensitive, but the incomparable Mr. Goldsmith is in his late seventies. Lawsuit or no, could the campaign have gone on much longer? Had it not ended gracefully, would the future have brought us a parade of comedians in fake beards reprising the role, a la KFC and Colonel Sanders? Good lord, no.
Quatro. This curtain call for The Most Interesting Man might have come in the form of some testy lawsuits between an actor and his talent agency. It’s the sort of thing that happens all the time, and amounts to little more than a pixel or two in the big, big picture. But it was news, and that starkly demonstrates how easily one person can come to stand for an entire brand. Let that be a lesson to all of us who’d try to tame the twin beasts of brand management and public opinion.
Adios, amigo. The cerveza won’t taste quite the same without you.
