Super Bowl 2019: Dos Equis Man Makes Surprise Appearance in Stella Artois Commercial

The Stella Artois commercial during Super Bowl LIII featured a startling surprise appearance by the Dos Equis mascot.

Stella Artois promised one of the most star-studded Super Bowl commercials of the year, with Jeff Bridges and Sarah Jessica Parker reprising their most iconic roles ever. Although the ad was apparently released early online, the game day version included something a little different — the actor best known as “The Dos Equis Guy.”

The ad began just like the earlier version that was released online on Monday. It featured Parker in character as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City entering a restaurant, where a waiter offered her her usual cosmopolitan. She turned it down, asking for a Stella Artois.

After that, Bridges entered in character as The Dude from The Big Lebowski. He approached the bar, where he was offered his customary White Russian. Instead, he asked for a Stella Artois. At this point in the game-day version of the ad, the camera cut to the Dos Equis man sitting nearby at the bar.

“Interesting twist,” he said slyly.

Fans went wild when they saw the iconic “most interesting man in the world” promoting a different beer. After all, as he has said countless times, when he drinks beer, he prefers Dos Equis. On social media, fans called out this apparent change of sides, joking about the ad as soon as it had aired.

“Getting the [Dos Equis] guy might be the best interception in this game!” one person tweeted.

“STELLA GOT THE DOS EQUIS GUY,” marvelled another fan. “THIS IS BIGGER THAN WHEN SPRINT GETTING THE CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW DUDE.”

“Even the Dos Equis man switching sides, it’s a evil world we live in,” added a third person.

As a matter of fact, this is not the first time the Dos Equis spokesman has branched out. The actor’s name is Jonathan Goldsmith, and he has diversified his alcohol ads before. In 2017, Goldsmith promoted Astral Tequila, directly referencing his previous work with Dos Equis.

“I told you I don’t always drink beer,” he said, lifting a shot glass, surrounded as usual by a gaggle of beautiful women. Goldsmith reportedly owned stock in Astral, and opted to contribute his recognizable face to the campaign.

Goldsmith parted ways with Dos Equis in 2016. After ten years as the brand’s “Most Interesting Man in the World,” the company decided to recast with a younger actor. Two years later, the ad campaign was discontinued altogether.

Meanwhile, Goldsmith, 80 years old, has a long and storied career outside of beer ads. He had small parts on classic TV shows, including Gunsmoke, Knight Rider, CHiPs, Hawaii Five-O, MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty, Magnum, P.I., Knots Landing, and The A-Team.

Still, Goldsmith’s iconic persona switching beer preferences matched with Stella Artois’ ad campaign, which asked beer drinkers to consider the virtues of changing things up. For Goldsmith, it clearly worked out.