‘The Most Interesting Man in the World’ from beer ads rides in HOV lanes

A new commuter? A Washington state trooper pulled over a car with “The Most Interesting Man in the World” from beer ads as a passenger in a car. (Courtesy of Guy Gill/Washington State Patrol)

He’s best known for being “The Most Interesting Man in the World” in the Dos Equis beer ads, but he now has another moniker: commuter.

A driver in Washington state recently tried to use a cardboard cutout of the actor who portrays the most interesting man as a passenger in his car as he traveled along Interstate 5 in Tacoma.

But it didn’t work. Rats.

A Washington State Patrol trooper on his motorcycle noticed something odd — what he described as a rather unusual passenger and stopped the car.

The driver told him, “He’s my best friend.”

Gill did seem to have a bit of humor about the incident. In a Twitter message, he posted a picture of the cardboard cutout and wrote, “I don’t always violate the HOV lane law. . . but when I do, I get a $124 ticket. We’ll give him an A for creativity!”

I don't always violate the HOV lane law…but when I do, I get a $124 ticket! We'll give him an A for creativity!

The “Most Interesting Man in the World” ad campaign was produced by Euro RSCG, a marketing firm. The ads feature actor Jonathan Goldsmith. In them, he does a variety of things, including surfing a huge wave, helping an angry bear get out of a trap and shooting a cue ball out of the mouth of a man as he lays on a pool table. His blood smells like cologne, one ad says. He doesn’t often drink beer, but when he does, he says in the ads, he drinks Dos Equis.