Are There Any Decent Beer Ads?

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Beer ads have been weak in recent years. Take Anheuser Busch-InBev's (ABI) ballyhooed rollout of Bud Light Golden Wheat in October. The only reason it made a splash was because the company bought up all the national TV time on Saturday Night Live one night. The ads themselves were clichéd and anemic—stuff about the brew's "drinkability" accompanied by pictures of tall, frosty glasses set to a vapid rock soundtrack.

But as Beer Business Daily points out, there has been one standout campaign this year—Heineken USA's "Most Interesting Man in the World" spots for Dos Equis. (Heineken USA distributes Mexican brewer Femsa's brands in the United States).

"You know you've hit a home run," writes BBD's Harry Schuhmacher, "when in casual conversations with folks not in the industry, somebody will say, 'I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.' "

Why does the campaign work? Because it "strikes that rare balance between being ludicrous yet funny and authentic," Schumacher writes. "Even though it's clear the character in the spots is clearly an over-the-top parody, deep down inside you want to be him." (Slate's Seth Stevenson also liked the ads.)

Look at the results. Case volume is up 29 percent for Dos Equis over the past year. That edges the brand just past InBev's Stella Artois, which has its own interesting, long-running, faux-arty campaigns.