In case you, my loyal fans, haven't figured it out by now, I hold a special place in my heart for the marketing campaign done by Dos Equis involving the Most Interesting Man in the World. In this day and age when marketing of alcohol involves commercials with men doing stupid and pointless acts, it's a breath of fresh air to see commercials that involve a man who has seen it all, done it all, is the best at any task at hand, and even though he doesn't always drink beer, when he does, he prefers Dos Equis. I am sure you all of seen the new commercials that began airing last week with the witty one liners narrated over videos of his amazing feats that he has accomplished. Plus, I am sure that you have even come up with a few lines of your own. Actually, I know you have because at any given day, hundreds of fans on Facebook put up their lines about the over-the-top antics of the Most Interesting Man. Well my friends, you're in luck, because the Most Interesting Man will be selecting one of YOUR lines to be featured in the next advertising piece. Unfortunately, the only people actually in luck right now are the top 64 that were chosen earlier this week.

     Starting last week, Dos Equis created a competition through Facebook, where fans can submit their lines. Once submitted, you must spread the word throughout Facebook and get your friends to vote for your line. If you are one of the top 64 chosen by Facebook and Dos Equis, you have secured your spot in the Dos Equis Legendary Line Postseason bracket. That's right folks, in the spirit of March Madness, this competition is setup just like the NCAA brackets, and you are pitted against one another to see who has the best line. How is the better line chosen? By voting, of course! The top 64 now have to spread the word through Facebook and get the votes they need to beat their opponent and move on to the next round. The contestants must repeat this process through each round until only one is left as the winner. That winner gets the honor of having their line used in the next advertising piece of the Most Interesting Man. Four  runners-up will each receive a promotional award inscribed with their line.

     Was your line not picked? No problem, you can still win a prize. Either you can be chosen at random to win one of the 300 promotional shirts available, or you can fill out a bracket predicting which lines will win which round. Similar to creating a NCAA March Madness bracket, you pick which line will win each round all the way to the final winner. The top ten winning creators of the brackets will each get a personalized sports jersey with the Dos Equis logo and their last name on the back. This is the route I have to take since MY line wasn't chosen. I know, I am just as shocked as you are.

     So I say to all those looking to participate; "Good Luck!" You will need it. After all, this is the Most Interesting Man in the World we are talking about here. The stakes are higher and the prizes are grand. The exposure and bragging rights are well worth the effort to participate in the competition. May the best man win, and of course, "Stay thirsty my friends."

*I now present Part III, the final chapter of the blog entry entitled "The League of the Most Interesting".

     So here I am, sitting on the edge of my bed at 4:00 in the morning on Day 3 of my adventure, reading yet another letter from the Most Interesting Man. In the letter, he applauds my valiant effort in the culinary arts, but my trip is far from over. There is another challenge I have to conquer for the League of Most Interesting, and it's no simple feat. Details will follow tomorrow, but the item that he leaves me will aide me in my challenge. The item is a black promotional beach towel with the Dos Equis logo embroidered on it.  Oh, and I must also pack, because I will be leaving Oaxaca to head to another part of Mexico called Huatulco. So I pack the best I could, and sleep for only 2 hours before I am awaken to my door being knocked on. Apparently, it is time to go.

     We arrive at the airport in Oaxaca, and after a brief security check, I board one of two single engine planes whose next stop is Huatulco. During the hour flight, we were entertained by beautiful aerial views of small towns, mountaintops, and of course, entertained by each oither. Once we land, it's another hour drive before we reach our destination, which is the beach, or to be more specific, the Barra de la Cruz coastline. we head to the beach, where there is a cabana set up, and a couple of surfboards are lying in the sand. "Oh great, the man who can't swim is going to go surfing...for the first time!"

     We head to the cabana, where we are greeted by 3 locals who will be teaching us how to surf. They gave us surf shirts, and paired us up with our boards. Then they demonstrate to us how to lie on the board, which foot to put the strap on to keep us attached to the boat, and how to get up and balance yourself once on a wave. We go over this routine for a few times until the instructors feel we have it down. Once the training is complete, we begin to head out into the water. The water is a little cold, but the sun is beating down on us, keeping us warm. Once the water is just above our knees, we lie down on our boards and begin to swim out into the big blue sea.

     Now, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am not the most fit guy out there. What I also found out that day was I am also not the most balanced either. There I am, on water that is relatively calm, rocking violently on the board that I am only lying down on. I even fell off the board a few times, and I didn't even try to stand on it yet! I also never realized how physically demanding surfing is. Whenever I picture surfing, I imaginea surfer gently gliding down a wave. I never picture the amount of energy it takes to swim out into the sea against the wave coming at you. It can really tire you out, as it did with me. For a couple of hours, I am out there, swimming out to the instructors, struggling to balance along the way, and unsuccessfully trying to stand on the board. One of the instructors sees me battling the waves and swims over to me, giving me some advice. He has me lay down on the board, then stays toward the back, waiting for the perfect wave to appear. Once he gives me the signal, I begin swimming to the shore.

     As I am swimming, I can feel something coming up behind me. It's the wave. I begin to feel it begin to rumble under my board, slowly lifting me above the surface of the ocean. As my board rises, I push myself up with my arms, while sliding my right leg forward, keeping my left leg back for balance. Then, as quickly as I can, I stand myself on the board, stretch my arms out to help keep my balance, and for a few brief seconds, I am surfing. It felt very surreal standing on a board, while moving about above the water. I felt like I was towering over others in the water. I remember staring out at the shore, and then I saw the sky as I begin to fall back, landing in the water while the surfboard shot straight up into the air. Just as I go underwater, the board comes down, smacking the water surface with a thunderous crack. I tumble under the water before hitting the sand bar, and then struggle to get myself back to the board. As I break the surface of the water, I pull myself onto the board, and use the waves to bring me back to shore. I was done, hungry, and I swear there was almost a gallon of water swimming around in my ears. I drop my board in the sand, grab a bite to eat, and afterwards, explore the beach with a couple of my fellow winners. We climb some of the small cliffs, and meet some more of the locals. When we return to the cabana, we are greeted by the local school's marching band, who begin to play music for us. As it turns out, the mayor of Huatulco stopped by to visit us. We shake hands, take pictures, and on behalf of Dos Equis, donate money to their school. Once the festivities are finished, we are given score cards to grade each other as we did with the other challenges, then head to the hotel.

     It about 4:00 in the afternoon on the final day of my adventure, but the adventure is far from over. We are told that we have to meet back at the beach outside our hotel in two hours, and to dress nice because we will be having dinner. So I pack, get dressed, and enjoy a couple Dos Equis on my balcony that's overlooking the ocean. The view beautiful and the weather is perfect. Before I know, it's almost 6:00, so I finish up my Dos Equis, and head on down to the beach. There are  white tables and couches set up, a long dining table, and a huge bonfire burning behind it. Once we are all there, a mariachi band shows up and begins to play music during our cocktail hour. Once the music dies down, we are given a speech about how it's fans like us that keep the brand going and how none of it would be possible without us. However, I feel it would also not be possible without the fine people of Heineken, Dos Equis, G2, and Mediavest, who all helped and went above and beyond what they had to do to make our adventure as exciting and interesting as possible. They finish off their speech with "...and now onto the awards..." Awards? Those score cards were actually being taken seriously? Well, it turns out they were, because I received an award for accuracy in the League of Most Interesting. Let's just say it did not leave my neck for the next week. I even wore it to work. Once the awards were given out, we all sat down, enjoyed a fabulous full course meal, and were told that since this is the last night, we will be partying at a club called La Papaya. We finished our meals, and we were off to the club.

     We arrive at the club, all looking devastatingly handsome I might add, and walk inside to see this place completely decorated for our arrival. They had Dos Equis banners all over the place, with Dos Equis videos on the big T.V. screens, and buckets filled with Dos Equis at booths that were reserved for us. They had the smoke machines going, balloons everywhere, and strobe lights flashing to the beats of the music that was playing throughout this establishment. It was good times, with great people, and we partied all night till the sun rose.

     Alas my followers, we are coming up on the end of my adventure. I slept whatever few hours I could before I was awakened by the final knocks I will hear on door. We are now heading home. We are exhausted, and we ache, but we do not care. For what we did those past few days will lead to a life time of bragging rights and storytelling. We have seen and experienced more in those few days than most men will accomplish in a life time. I believe this quote from one of the first Most Interesting Man's commercials sums it up best; "His beard alone has experienced more than a less interesting man's entire body".

     I also wish to thank everyone from Heineken who made this entire event possible. If it wasn't for you all, I would not have had the experience of a life time. I cannot express the gratitude I have for you choosing me as one of the winners, and until we meet again...Stay Thirsty My Friends.

*I now present Part II of the blog entry entitled "League of the Most Interesting".

     The sun had barely risen past the horizon when I got my very early morning wake up for Day 2 of my adventure. No one knows exactly what is in store for us. All we do know is that we need to bring our jerseys and it isn't so wise to be out till after three in the morning partying if you are going to be awaken around six. Regardless, I get dressed as quickly as possible, grab a quick bite at the buffet provided for us, and grabbed a seat in the shuttle that will be taking us to our previously undisclosed location.

     Now this part gets a little hazy because I was so tired, I kept falling asleep on the ride. However, during the brief moments when I was conscious, I noticed that there were less and less buildings and more and more nature flying past the window. Just when I fall back into a deep sleep; I am awaken by the sounds of the shuttle door opening. We have arrived halfway up a low mountainous range in the Valley of Oaxaca, near the archaeological site of Monte Albán. From there, we hike the rest of the way to the Monte Albán site itself, where we are greeted by huge stone buildings and ancient artifacts. Our tour guide Florencio, begins to explain that these ancient ruins were once controlled by the native Zapotecs, an ancient civilization that goes back atleast 2200 years. They left archaeological evidence at the ancient city of Monte Albán in the form of buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods including finely worked gold jewelry. While showing us what was once an ancient ball court, he begins to talk about the ancient game they played called pelota mixteca, a game that is similar to a net-less tennis game. Players wear sturdy, elaborately decorated gloves affixed to a heavy flat striking surface, using them to strike a small solid rubber ball approximately four inches in diameter. The glove can weight from 8-12lbs, and the game also has a scoring system similar to tennis. Players are usually in teams of five, and the ball is served by striking it off a flat stone, and hitting it on the return. As it turns out, the sport is still played locally in Oaxaca to this very day. Florencio introduces us to two players of the sport, who show us the gloves and balls they use, discuss how they play the sport, and then gave us tour of the ruins, plus acted as guides on a hike back down the mountains. We took the scenic route, which took us all over the mountains, into farms and villages, and after an hour or so, ended at the dirt field where the locals play pelota mixteca. We gather on the side lines and watch the teams play a game; all the while Florencio is describing what is going on. Once they wrap up their game, they meet at the sidelines and begin to strap the gloves on us. "Oh boy" I thought to myself, "they are really expecting us to play this game". (Please note that my actual thoughts were edited to keep the blog at a PG rating. Please feel free to use your imagination to know my actual thoughts.)

     Now when you envision myself in your head, I am sure you imagine a devastatingly handsome, beyond physically fit, statuesque being, walking on to the dirt field without a concern in the world toward this sport because his superior athletic capabilities will surely show those Oaxacans who is the boss of this game. While the handsome part is still accurate, years of working behind a desk with no real will to exercise or maintain a healthy diet has caused me to lose some of that athletic physique and capability, while gaining a fear that I will make a complete fool of myself in front of the professional players and my fellow teammates.  It's too late to worry about this now, so I push my fear aside, and step onto the field with my team and prepare to play. They split us into two teams, while giving us each a fifth person, who was one of the professional players. My team gets the luxury of serving the pelota first, so we let the professional take care of that. It turns out that strategy paid off, because the opposing team was unable to return the pelota, resulting in a quarter of a point to us. Once we score a full point, the other team gets the ball and begins to serve. Learning from our success, they also had their professional player serve to us with little worry about the ball being returned. This went back and forth for a few points until we started getting the hang of hitting the ball. A few of the times where we made contact with the ball, it simply sail out of bounds. Eventually, we start to hit the ball back to the other team. I even hit it back and forth...TWICE, a personal best! After some more fierce competition, we squeak out a win by one point. We say our thanks for all the help and instructions, and the Oaxacans in return give us hand-painted pelota balls. They wanted to show their appreciation for us wanting to learn the culture and play with them. it turns out that we were the first non-natives to play the sport in over 2,200 years. How incredible is that? We pack up our things, say good bye to the locals, and head back into town for a traditional Oaxacan lunch. That's right folks, we did all this before lunch.

    We arrive at an outdoor restaurant, where we sit at a long wooden table under a straw hut. Before we feast on the local cuisine, each of us exemplars (that's the title us winners received) received a score sheet. What this sheet did was allow us to rate each other on the challenge we did on a scale of 1-5, in categories such as accuracy and nerve, etc... After that, we gorged ourselves on traditional and delicious Oaxacan foods and drinks. As we are wrapping up our feast, we receive another letter from the Most interesting Man along with an item we will need for our next challenge. In the letter, he congratulates us for putting up such a valiant effort and "mastering" the local sport, but our adventure is far from over. We are to rest up, for in a few hours, we will be going out for a nice dinner, so dress appropriately. However, our next challenge awaits us first. The item that came with the letter was an apron, but not just any old apron. This promotional apron had an insulated beverage holder, bottle opener on a retractable string, and hand towel all together. We now head back to the hotel, wondering what else is in store for us.

     Later that evening, I freshen up, put on some nice clothes, grab my apron, and start meeting the others in the lobby of the hotel. Once we are all together, we head out into town. After several blocks, we head into an indoor flea market. We all huddle at the main entrance, where we receive one more letter from the Most Interesting Man. The letter is a list of ingredients that we need for a meal that will be disclosed later. We are each given one hundred pesos and are let loose in the market. Here's the catch: If you buy all the ingredients at face value, you will not have enough money, so we will need to negotiate. "Oh great, this should be easy for someone who can't speak the language at all." To make our lives a little easier, we decide to form groups and head out into the market. We need to get Oaxacan cheese, tortilla shells, five limes, ten fried crickets (yummmmmm), and sal de gusano (A powdered blend of salt, chili peppers and roasted gusano worm). Since we are in a group, we are able to obtain all the ingredients in record time, with spare pesos. We check back in at the front, and wait for the rest to show up. Once we are all together, we leave the market and head over to the restaurant, where we are kindly greeted and seated on the outside balcony overlooking the town square. Just as we get seated, we are told to put on our aprons, grab our ingredients, and to head over to the bar inside. Once inside, we are given another letter that states what we will be making. It is called a Michelada. It consists of 12 ounces Dos Equis, ¼ cup fresh lime juice, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon hot sauce, ¼ teaspoon soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sal de gusano, and ice. Then rim a beer mug with lime juice and salt. Pour Dos Equis, add remaining ingredients, and stir. With the cheese, tortilla shells, and crickets, we had to make a side dish to go with the drink. Now I had a Michelada before, and made properly, it does not taste that good, so you can imagine how ours tasted. However, I didn't have to imagine, for after we made a huge mess in the bar and completed our drinks and dishes, we brought them back out to our table where we then tried everyone's dishes and graded every one similarly to the way we grade eachother for the first challenge. Trust me, there's nothing better than eating crickets prepared seven different ways. Mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmm.

     After that was done, we had a fabulous dinner, with live entertainment. There were dueling mariachi bands. One was next to us and the other was outside the restaurant. Once we finished our meals, we decided that we wanted to go out to a club and party again, because we apparently did not learn our lesson of lack of sleep from the previous night. So we head out to a local club, where we danced with the locals, enjoyed some fine Dos Equis lager, and partied the night away. We head back to our rooms in the wee hours of the morning, again. Before I faceplant into my bed, I notice there's another letter from the Most interesting Man, along with another item I will need for my final challenge.

     What does the letter say? What was the item he received? Well folks, you will just have to tune in next week when I present the concluding chapter about my induction into the "League of the Most interesting".  

     Welcome back my faithful followers. I hope you all enjoyed the President's Day break and are ready for the grand tale of my admittance into the "League of the Most Interesting". I apologize for the wait, and I know it's been a long time coming. So without further ado, I will now share with you my "Most Interesting" adventure.

     As many of you know, a few entries back I disclosed my passion toward successful advertising campaigns and how important they can be to get consumers to buy your product. I had also discussed which campaign was my favorite, and that was Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World. In that entry, I had also wrote about how I had won one of their competitions to be selected as one of the "Most Interesting Apprentices" for the Most Interesting Academy in the World. The contest was a lot of fun, and will truly be an experience I will never forget. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out last summer, that Dos Equis was running another competition entitled the "League of the Most Interesting".

     The story behind the league is simple: The Most Interesting Man has a group of the finest champions the world can offer, and they compete in all forms of competitions. Unfortunately, due to the high level of competition, and certain unforeseen circumstances, seven positions opened up in the league. So the Most interesting Man is giving the opportunity to anyone willing to accept the challenge, to sign up and create competitions, challenge other contenders , and earn medals for your wins and participation. The contest lasted the entire summer (of 2011). You won your medals based on several criteria, such as your amount of wins, the amount you participate in creating challenges for the gallery, how many challenges you win in a certain amount of time, etc... Once the league contest period was over, those who made it to the top 75 had to write a brief statement of interest explaining what characteristic they feel best qualifies them for the competition. What's the grand prize, you say? It is a few days in Oaxaca, Mexico to participate in competitions set up by Dos Equis. Since I was notified that I placed in the top 75, I replied back with my statement, and then played the waiting game.

     Several weeks go by, keeping me at suspense the entire time. Every hour, of every day, I check my email, just waiting to get an email congratulating me on my win. Then finally, on October 14, 2011, I get an email at  4:08 p.m. with the subject line "Congratulations from Dos Equis". I DID IT!!! I won ANOTHER Dos Equis competition. I was going to go to Mexico with 6 other lucky winners for an adventure we will never forget. That following week, I get a care package from the Most Interesting Man. In it was a letter congratulating me on my success, and a promotional backpack with the Dos Equis logo embroidered on it. In the letter I was told I would need this for all my prized possessions for the trip. Also enclosed was detailed information about my trip. In 6 weeks, 2 planes, and a 1 hour time difference, I arrive in Oaxaca, on November 30.

     Day 1, the adventure begins. After I land in Oaxaca, I am escorted, with two other winners that happened to be on the flight with me, to a shuttle headed for our hotel. The hotel used to be a convent from the early 1600's. When we arrive, we are greeted in the lobby of the hotel by some of the brains behind Dos Equis and the Most Interesting Man campaign. After getting acquainted, and checking into the hotel, we are escorted to our beautiful rooms. When I open the door, there is a letter on the bed along with some sort of promotional apparel. The letter was from the Most Interesting Man, congratulating me for making it this far, and discussing how tonight I will be joining the other winners for a night out exploring the local town and that there will be a welcome party for us in the courtyard of the hotel, where there will be some food and plenty of Dos Equis, so don't be late. The apparel that was on the bed was a jersey with the league name on the front, and my name on the back. The letter further explains that the jersey will be for tomorrow morning, but it doesn't say what exactly I will be doing. It just says to bring the jersey.

     So we go out into the town for a bit, and explore the surroundings. We grab a bite to eat and then head back to the hotel for opening reception. When we get back, we noticed a few more winners arrived at the hotel. We change our clothes to something a little more formal and head down to our opening reception. The courtyard was decorated with Dos Equis banners similar to the trade show packages vendors use to promote their space at a trade show. Circling us were waiters constantly bringing out food, plenty of Dos Equis beer, and we get the pleasure of live music from an instrument that looks like a giant wooden xylophone. During the ceremony, we share stories with each other and mingle with all the people from Dos Equis and other companies that helped put this event together. However, before the ceremony is over, we are warned to get plenty of rest, for we have a big day of adventure and competition ahead of us. In a true "most interesting" fashion, we ignore the warning, and instead decide to hit a local watering hole, where we drank, danced, and partied with the locals until the wee hours of the morning.

     3 o'clock in the morning can creep up on you real fast when you're having that much fun. At this point, we decide to stumble back to the hotel and back into bed. I may have gotten 2 hours of sleep before I hear a loud knocking on the door. It turns out, I am being summoned for my first "Most Interesting" challenge. So I change as quickly as I can, grab my jersey, and head down to the lobby.

     Now you're probably thinking to yourself, "What's in store for Dan next"? Well there's only one way to find out. Stay tuned next week, when I discuss Day 2 of the "League of the Most Interesting".

          We are midway through January here in New York when we finally get our first real blast of winter weather. We have been spoiled so far with relatively mild weather up until this week, where we finally had temperatures in the mid 20's to low teens. It is usually at this time when we pine for the warmer weather. Where we look for a beach break, and Corona has the answer.

          We all have seen the commercials for Corona beer. They are very simple, yet very effective. It just involves a guy and a girl, whose faces you never see, just sitting on the beach in their promotional chairs, enjoying an ice cold Corona. Recently, they have taken the commercials a step further, by using people in social situations being "taken" to their beach once they grab the Corona. These commercials send a clear message: "Drink our beer, and feel like you are in a tropical paradise." However, with the use of promotional products and social media such as Facebook, they have taken their ad campaign one step further by introducing a contest aptly called "Corona Beach Break".

          The concept of the contest is pretty simple. On Corona's Facebook page is the tab for the Beach Break. Each week, Corona puts up challenges that the participants must complete. The challenges either involve "checking in" at a particular location, taking and uploading a picture doing whatever Corona describes, or creating an event through Facebook that pertains to the guidelines set by Corona. Every time you complete a challenge, you earn points, which can be redeemed for Corona branded promotional products or prizes. The prizes range from promotional keychains, promotional luggage tags, promotional bottle openers, promotional cups and mugs, and promotional apparel, to more high end items such as kayaks and vacations. The contest is simple to compete in, and Corona went as far as to make an app for smart phones so you can "play on the go."

          The simplicity of this contest is what makes it engaging. I have been playing this for a little while now, and I have accrued a good amount of points. My goal is to win the sailboat, but I have enough right now for the kayak. Since the prizes are all promotional products that have Corona's logo, it's a great way to advertise the brand without the participant realizing it. Integrating the contest with Facebook allows the brand to stay in contact with its consumers, as well as grow the fan base with the contest as bait to their page. They stand to gain a lot of useful information to help market their brand, while rewarding loyal customers. Corona has come up with a great concept and has executed it beautifully.

With the DVD/Blu Ray release of X-Men First Class last week, I rushed to Best Buy over the  weekend to complete my collection. I saw the movie in theaters back in June and am already having trouble remembering it. The one I think I do remember is thinking to myself at the time that I need to re-watch all of the previous movies before I see it again. I never did make it back to the theater, and summer just seemed to slip away from me making me forget about the series altogether. Now that I have the new movie, I'm finding myself itching to watch it again!

Does this ever happen to you? You get the newest saga in a series and instead of paying it its proper and deserved dues, you lack the patience to go back to the beginning and instead skip right to the new movie only to be reminded of why you had wanted to re-watch the previous ones to begin with... By the time the final Harry Potter movie came out, I had decided to work backwards through the collection. I only made it through The Deathly Hallows: Part I, The Half-Blood Prince and The Order of the Phoenix, but to go back seven movies spanning ten years... I just didn't have that kind of time. One day.

Come to think of it, with all of our themed promo giveaways, I'm actually surprised to see that Motivators does not have some TV or movie promotional product themes like Harry Potter or a classic like Star Wars (although we do have a space themed items). Food for thought?

Anyway, the X-Men collection is much smaller and shorter than the Harry Potter collection, so there really is no excuse for my impatience. Though the movie was a slight disappointment, it was still great to see the connections that the characters had way back when. I would hate to spoil anything for anyone who has yet to see it. so all I will say is: see for yourself!