Disclaimer: This blog entry is admittedly dorky, but it’s about beer and interesting men who are popular with hot chicks, so hang in there. Finally, it all ties into harness racing, so forgive my marketing geekdom and kindly follow the yellow brick road.
In 2007, Dos Equis (doe-saw-key) premium beer launched a masterful integrated marketing campaign delivered by the Most Interesting Man in the World. Yes, you’ve seen him: the distinguished older man that makes young chicks swoon and young chaps . . . well, thirsty.
Every time I encounter this Dos Equis campaign, I am nearly moved to tears by its sheer brilliance. Wow. Everything clicks. (And yes, of course, I have sexy marketing dreams every night about harness racing pulling off a similar feat — but that’s a blog for another day.)
Over the past 18 months, the Most Interesting Man has evolved into a true advertising icon. He is suave, charismatic, and distinguished. His witty advice, colorful commentary and incredulous tales of past experiences are all designed to appeal to the targeted key Dos Equis consumer: adult males — premium beer drinkers who live or aspire to live “interesting” lives. (Does that target demographic sound familiar?)
The whole tidy package is reinforced by his catchphrase: “Stay thirsty my friends.” Be still my beating heart, the best is yet to come: advice from the Most Interesting Man In The World:
• Find out what it is that you don’t do well, and then don’t do it.
• If you can see the coins in a man’s pocket, he’d better use them to call a tailor.
• The police often question him, just because they find him interesting.
• He once punched a magician. That's right. You heard me.
• When he orders a salad, he gets the dressing right there on top of the salad, where it belongs...where there is no turning back.
• If it is raining, it is because he is sad.
• If there were an interesting gland, his would be larger than most men's entire lower intestines.
• His shirts never wrinkle.
• He is left-handed. And right-handed.
• Even if he forgets to put postage on his mail, it gets there.
• He once knew a call was a wrong number, even though the person on the other end wouldn't admit it.
• You can see his charisma from space.
• His charisma is so contagious vaccines have been created for it
• Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear.
In the Dos Equis world, he is just a character. But I think he lives and breathes in the harness racing universe. Few embody ALL of his qualities, but several racing fellows come to mind that possess some or most.
So, I ask you: who is the Most Interesting Man in harness racing?
Fantastic and funny piece,
Fantastic and funny piece, Kelly. You rock. I think the most interesting man in harness racing is George Foreman and I'm not just saying that because I met him once and am still scared of him. Otherwise, I think that one of the great thing about our sport is that there are so MANY interesting men and women, drivers and trainers and owners and grooms. I could easily list off in 2 minutes 25 people I would love to have dinner with. Whom do YOU think is the most interesting man in harness racing? And, no, Frank Drucker doesn't count.
In reply to Fantastic and funny piece, by Andrew Cohen (not verified)
Mr. Cohen, thank-you for
Mr. Cohen, thank-you for your kind comments, and your devious sabotage of what was clearly my intent to avoid naming names! Just like a lawyer : )
I too am smitten with racing's vast collection of characters. The biz lends itself to such an interesting cast, given the range of roles. And, I firmly believe that some of the world's best people have their hearts in harness racing. On the flipside, there is (historically, at least) some sex appeal in racing for rogues and scoundrels. While they may not be nice, you can't deny that they're interesting.
If I have to name at least one interesting person to appease you, I'll name two with the same last name: Ron and Randy Waples. Both are obviously tremendously talented and gifted with many fine attributes, not the least of which is a colourful sense of humour. Plus, Randy was slapped on the wrist by The Man for wearing flames, and uttering "Alotta Fagina" on-air, and despite my best intentions, I still find that really, really funny.
And, BTW, I WOULD include Frank Drucker on my list.
Most Interesting Man? Larry
Most Interesting Man? Larry Moore formerly owner of Obeyd Ranch. Wears cowboy outfits, speaks his mind, has morals above most others, Christian man, family man, highest IQ score in Canada in 14 years ( three dimensional math or something), makes people laugh , talks to everyone as an equal and they all remember him for some reason. He is now promoting the best thing to hit racing in years--Oxygen supplement, buys and sells realestate, has played pro hockey, driven race horses and race cars, won chess tournaments, pool tournaments, beat golf pros, won swimming medals and is almost unbeaten to my knowledge in board games. Bowled near perfect games, trained guard dogs and showed dogs. Gets into places when they are sold out. Never stands in line. Always has a million things on the go, never makes notes and has scraps of paper everywhere. Don't play cards with him he can deal 4 aces anytime from a shuffled deck. He can do almost any trade and has loads of volunteer and boardroom experience also. Larry also hunts, fishes and can fly a plane. He is a member of Standardbred Canada and owns race horses. I have really never seen anything this man cannot do and he is a true ambassador for the sport.
In reply to Most Interesting Man? Larry by Anonymous (not verified)
Wow! Now THAT'S what I'm
Wow! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Thanks for the post.