Dos Equis on Monday brought back its well-known “Most Interesting Man” ad campaign — featuring the original actor — as it attempts to revive flailing beer sales.
After a 10-year absence from the character played by Jonathan Goldsmith, the beer brand premiered a new 60-second ad starring him during the College Football Championship on ESPN.
The ad facetiously nods to the character’s absence from the pop culture scene, with a narrator intoning, “For 10 years, he’s been uninteresting.”
He springs back to life after, of course, quaffing a Dos Equis.
“I don’t always drink beer, but when I do … I think I prefer Dos Equis!” Goldsmith says in the ad, using a tweaked version of his old tagline.
Alison Payne, Dos Equis’ chief marketing officer for the US, pointed to low consumer confidence and inflation as factors hurting the brand’s bottom line.
With Hispanics comprising a significant portion of Dos Equis’ customers, she also appeared to allude to a problem affecting other brands with a large Hispanic customer base — Hispanic consumers are buying less beer during President Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has instilled fear of hosting parties and just making trips to the store.
“It’s been a tough time,” Payne told CNN.
Last year, retail sales at Dos Equis dropped an estimated 8% – even worse than the 2% drop for competitors Modelo and Corona, according to NIQ data from Bump Williams Consulting obtained by CNN.
“The beer category as a whole has had a tough time,” Payne remarked.
But volumes at the 130-year-old Dos Equis brand tripled during the 10-year “Most Interesting Man” campaign, which launched in 2006, so “we have high hopes that this will spark sales,” she added.
Top US beer brands have sounded alarm bells over challenges linked to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Constellation Brands – which owns Modelo and Corona – cut its full-year sales and profit forecasts last year, citing falling demand from Hispanic shoppers.
In September, Constellation President and CEO Bill Newlands said US consumers were making fewer trips to buy beer and spending less each trip, adding that the trend is most pronounced among Hispanic consumers – who account for about half of Constellation’s business.
He said the company’s research found that two thirds of Hispanic buyers were concerned about higher prices on food and essentials, and half were concerned about immigration issues, with many also worrying about the job market.
Earlier this week, Heineken announced the sudden resignation of CEO Dolf van den Brink, who spent six years at the helm. The company did not immediately name a replacement.
Heineken, which owns Amstel and Birra Moretti in addition to the namesake brand, slashed its earnings forecasts twice last year as drinkers bought less beer.
It is expecting a drop in its official full-year profit figures, which are slated for release in February.
Payne said the Dos Equis is hoping that the revival of “The Most Interesting Man” could help the brand’s sales bounce back, and help the brewer gain market share over its rivals.
“When we say we retired the most interesting man, it actually didn’t disappear from the cultural conversation at all,” Payne said, nodding to the popular Internet meme based on the character.
