Advertising / The Most Interesting Man in the World

"Stay thirsty, my friends."

"His words carry a weight that would break a less interesting man's jaw."

"He's a Lover, Not a Fighter; but he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas."

"He is the life of parties he has never attended."

"His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body."

"He can speak French...in Russian."

"He once punched a magician. That's right. You heard me."

"If he were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight off the strong urge to thank him."

"If he patted you on the back, you would put it on your resume."

"Both sides of his pillow are cool."

"He once taught a dog to bark...in Spanish."

"He bowls overhand."

"Sharks have a week dedicated to him."

"He lives vicariously...through himself."

"He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels."

"His French never needs pardoning."

"When in Rome, they do as he does."

"He once parallel parked a train."

"He is... The Most Interesting Man in the World."

— Narrator

I don't always Describe Topics Here, but when I do, it's on TV Tropes.

The Most Interesting Man In The World is an ad campaign for Dos Equis beer which began airing in the United States and Canada in 2006. It features a distinguished older gentleman who is quite the fascinating fellow, a classier version of the Chuck Norris Facts Meme, with strong overtones of Ernest Hemingway (er, if Hemingway were Hispanic). The above narration is only some of his purported acts. He is portrayed by Jonathan Goldsmith, a prolific character actor with credits going back to the '60s.

Jonathan Goldsmith's iteration of the character was retired in March 2016, as the Most Interesting Man in the World left on a one-way trip to Mars. Watch his journey to the final frontier here. He was succeeded by Augustin Legrand.

See also Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like ad campaign.

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Stay troping, my friends:

• The Ace: There's nothing he can't do and he's popular where ever he goes.
• Anal Probing: "Alien Abductors have asked him to probe them."
• Bear Hug: As in he literally hugs bears.
• Beyond the Impossible: Among other things, he can slam a revolving door, and he once gave a pep talk so compelling both teams won.
• Born Lucky: "His fortune cookies simply say, 'Congratulations!'"
• Bottled Cool: In flashbacks he is doing something amazing; in the present he's at a party and surrounded by sexy women. He prefers to drink Dos Equis.
• The Bus Came Back: Jonathan Goldsmith, as the Most Interesting Man, showed up in a rare version of the Super Bowl 2019 ad for Stella Artois featuring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges, despite Goldsmith's version being retired. Few can say they actually saw this version live.
• Carpet of Virility: Implied, when he issues his opinion on manscaping: "I have no idea what this is".
• Character Catchphrase: "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty, my friends."
• The Charmer: He is constantly surrounded by beautiful women who genuinely enjoy his company.
• Cool Old Guy: Again, look at his page quote. He's the kind of guy that neighbor kids will gather around so that they can listen to stories of all the cool stuff he's done.
• Cultured Badass: He's a fighter and a lover and trilingual (including being able to speak French in Russian).
• Dashing Hispanic: If he doesn't qualify due to his age^note Oh, who are we kidding, he still does, then at the least he was this when he was younger.
• Death Glare: The Man's advice for self defense? "The right look should suffice."
• Expy: Literature-minded people will notice that the Man looks and acts quite a bit like Ernest Hemingway. Scrolling through Hemingway's article on The Other Wiki will present pictures reminiscent of the Dos Equis ads. Also, in the Paris section of the article, Hemingway is quoted as saying "the most interesting people in the world" lived in Paris at the time (as one of his motivations to move there). He's also an expy of Goldsmith's late sailing partner and friend Fernando Lamas; the bar setting is an homage to Billy Crystal's SNL homage to Lamas.
• Friendly Enemy: "Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number."
• Friend to All Living Things: Zigzagged. While he has been seen ice fishing and posing with a recently caught marlin, the Man has also fed baby birds, befriended monarch butterflies and snow monkeys, freed a bear whose paw was caught in a trap, and once rescued a fox from a fox hunt. In fact, it's entirely possible that, considering the Man's track record and general charisma, the marlin simply jumped up on the pier in order to have its picture taken with him.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Invoked, but ultimately averted, when he speaks "on bromance."
  "I have no idea what that is."
• A Lady on Each Arm: At least once, including the "Cinco de Mayo" commercial:
  "Don't jump right into cinco. Start with dos."
• Lover, Not a Fighter: But he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas.
• Masquerade Ball: His thoughts on them:
  "If the only thing that comes off at the unmasking hour is the mask, you have done something wrong."
• The Medic: "In most countries his medical advice qualifies as a health care plan."
• Memetic Badass: All the tall tales about him are In-Universe.
• The Münchausen: The frame narrative is him telling stories of his exploits at a party. All of them are strange. And awesome.
• Noodle Incident: The commercials are all these; bits and pieces of footage from the Man's various adventures. They include speeding away in a lifeboat full of beauty pageant contestants, leading several foreign dignitaries through a cave with nothing but a lighter and a snappy tuxedo, and being chased by mounted foxhunters while cradling the fox in his arms.
• Our Zombies Are Different: "He is forbidden from walking through cemeteries, because of that one incident where he raised the dead."
• The Parody:
  • invoked In general, he's a parody of most any character who has a reputation as a Memetic Badass.
  • "He always feels comfortable.... even when he shouldn't be. He once gave a touching eulogy.... for a man who was still alive. He once watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in one sitting.... at a busy intersection. His ignorance knows no bounds. He is The Most Oblivious Man in the World.
    Tony Hale: [in Dos Equis commercial pose] "I don't always drink beer, but when I do-" [his cell phone rings and he answers a call, getting up and talking despite the director telling him they're still rolling, annoying the two actresses he is sitting with]
  • Steve Nash did some parodies of him for some Vitamin Water commercials while he was proclaimed as "The Most Ridiculous Man In The World".
  • As did xkcd.
  • "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I beat my wife and kids savagely."
  • ESPN's hockey analyst Barry Melrose did one as "The World's Most Interesting Analyst."
  • This ESPN commercial puts Spanish golfer Miguel Ángel Jiménez—himself frequently likened in golf circles to TMIMITW—into that role.
    Jiménez (after blowing cigar smoke): "Stay under par, my friends."
  • WWE did one as well.
  • Even MythBusters got in on the fun.
    Grant Imahara: "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Mythbusters."
  • Even So Random! got in the act with Grady Mitchell as "The Coolest Kid in School". The difference? He endorses three different things!
  • California radio station 102.5 loves to parody and poke fun at anything they can find...so it doesn't come as a surprise that they have a series of commercials about "The Most Annoying Man In The World".
  • To advertise the Puss in Boots movie, they parodied this commercial with Puss.
  • A meme-generated picture read "I'm not always racist, but when I am, it's on Xbox Live".
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanvid: The most interesting Pony in the World.
    • Featured in an official commercial made by The Hub
    • And on that note, there's also the man known as Dustykatt, aka The Manliest Brony In The World.
  • After a press tour by Vladimir Putin, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me said that the Dos Equis guy may be the most interesting man in the world, but when Putin drinks beer, he does it with that guy's mom.
  • Real Time with Bill Maher gives us Mitt Romney, the Least Interesting Man in the World.
  • After Sen. Marco Rubio's incident concerning a water bottle, memes popped up to this effect with the appropriate brand.
  • Pearls Before Swine had Rat as The Most Interesting Comic Strip Character In The World.
  • Through this fan-made video, Fate/Zero's Broskander the Great has now become "The most interesting heroic servant in the World."
  • Similar to the xkcd example, The Argyle Sweater featured Donald Trump as The Least Interesting Man In The World.
  • In The Order of the Stick, we have Dashing Swordsman Julio Scoundrel in this strip. In-Universe, Scoundrel has an endorsement deal with a manufacturer of potions.
    "I don't always take damage... But when I do, I drink a potion."
  • Atlanta sports talk station WCNN (680 "The Fan") had a series of promos of host Christopher Rude as "The least interesting man on Atlanta sports radio."
    When he takes his shirt off, kittens die.
    He doesn't look for Waldo. Waldo looks for him.
    His vomit is used as soup in fine French restaurants.
  • "I don't always stare at your boobs, but when I do...I'm sorry, where was I?"
  • In the Muppet fandom this became The Most Interesting Muppeteer In The World, born out of a comment by Carroll Spinney during an interview the site conducted. Spinney considered his colleague Jerry Nelson to be the true Most Interesting Man In the World.
  • In the WarMachine table top game fandom, some Retribution of Scyrah players refer to old Garryth, Blade of Retribution as The Most Interesting Elf in the World (likely due to his facial hair).
    "I don't always murder dozens of filthy round-ears, but when I do, I prefer Dos Hand Cannons. Stay bloodthirsty, my friends."
  • Robot Chicken did a version with Boba Fett as The Most Interesting Bounty Hunter in the Galaxy
• Parody Sue: Obviously his exploits are silly (such as speaking French in Russian) and played for laughs.
• Rated M for Manly: Between his myriad adventures and his penchant for attracting beautiful women, he's definitely this.
• Renaissance Man: This is a man of many, many talents.
• Russian Reversal: A lot of what he can do is based on reversing situations such as sharks having a week about him and Romans doing what he does when in Rome.
• Shrouded in Myth: We see snips of his adventures but we know little about them.
• Silver Fox: He's very gray, but the ladies still love him.
• The Talk: "He gave his father the talk."
• Tastes Like Chicken: Averted. His sense of taste is so refined that he never says anything tastes like chicken. Not even chicken.
• Testosterone Poisoning: This guy is what happens when you take a cultured badass and parody it.
• Threatening Shark: Sharks have a week about him.
• Vegetarian Vampire: "He once talked a vampire into becoming a vegetarian."
• Vicariously Ambitious: "He lives vicariously through himself."

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Waldorf: Should we stay thirsty?
Statler: I would. It's better than drinking any of THIS swill!
Both: Do-ho-ho-ho-hoh!