Meet the new “Most Interesting Man in the World”

When we last saw “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” he was climbing into a spaceship for a one-way trip to Mars.

Now, taking a page from the long-running TV spaceman Doctor Who, the Most Interesting Man in the World is undergoing his own regeneration. Mexican beer Dos Equis on Wednesday introduced its new pitchman in the decade-long campaign, which is taking on a more youthful look as the millennial generation becomes the country’s biggest consumer demographic.

The new Most Interesting Man in the World may strike some as an unusual pick. French actor Augustin Legrand is taking over the role, and while he’s younger than the previous actor to play the Most Interesting Man, he’s no millennial. Legrand, at 41 years old, is squarely in Generation X, although he’s certainly younger than his predecessor, Jonathan Goldsmith, who retired from the role​ earlier this year at age 77. 

“The most interesting man in the world has to be a bit, let’s say, seasoned,” said Andrew Katz, the vice president of marketing for Dos Equis, said an interview. “They have to be a bit aspirational and have enough life experience for a millennial to want to find them interesting. We weren’t looking for a particular age. We wanted somebody to embody this notion of the most interesting man.”

Katz added that the Most Interesting Man concept is akin to James Bond or Batman, where different actors play the figure over the decades. “You might love Sean Connery, but Daniel Craig is pretty cool,” he noted.

The campaign will focus on “reinvigorating and modernizing” the pitchman, the Heineken-owned company said in a statement.

Even though Legrand is French, he speaks in Spanish in the first spot released by Dos Equis. That may be designed to help the brand gain credibility for authenticity, which is important to millennial consumers, as well as reach out to Hispanic consumers, who are a growing market.

The first spot​ shows Legrand at a bar watching a TV running clips of Goldsmith as The Most Interesting Man. The bartender asks, “Think anyone will ever be as interesting as him?” Legrand gives a lighthearted lift of his eyebrows, and the spot flashes to what are presumably some of his past adventures: running down a street while holding a pig and clutching the hand of a woman in a sequined dress, climbing out of a well after fetching a lost soccer ball, and disembarking from a spaceship.

“It’s hard to say,” Legrand answers in Spanish.

The ad is billed by Dos Equis as a “trailer” that provides a peak at the forthcoming campaign. It said the campaign will kick off on Oct. 19 with Dos Equis’ college football playoff sponsorship, with its traditional vignette-style adds.

There’s a lot resting on Legrand’s broad shoulders. The campaign helped boost Dos Equis’ brand in the U.S. and is credited with helping to more than double sales from 2006 to 2011.