This man, the most interesting man in the world, was crafted by Dos Equis, quickly becoming one of the most successful, most replicated, most quoted ad campaigns ever.

While his impressive resume includes feats like parallel parking a train and winning a lifetime achievement award (twice), the most interesting man in the world no longer works for Dos Equis.

His retirement, although news to many, pales in comparison to his one last legacy as The Most Interesting Man In The World:  a chat bot clone of himself.

A pioneer in the world of AI marketing, Dos Equis transformed their iconic character into an interactive celebrity thanks to their innovative use of chat bot technology. Upon announcing the most interesting man’s retirement, the company launched its chat bot, inviting customers to call and talk to their character, giving them an experience that was both entertaining and memorable.

It was the stuff word-of-mouth marketing was born to promote.

Rather than encouraging the public to call their customer service contact centers, which would create vastly different (and unpredictable, as well as potentially boring) experiences for callers, Dos Equis launched its chat bot clone of their character, delivering an authentic, true-to-character interaction cleverly crafted by the brilliant minds of the company’s marketers.

So while the most interesting man is off enjoying a cold one on a beach somewhere, his legacy lives on, and in the type of grand fashion that would only be acceptable by a man surrounded by so much myth.

Great marketing thrives off of storytelling, which is why Dos Equis’ choosing to transition their popular character into retirement in such a memorable way is begging to be replicated by other smart brands.

Giving consumers an opportunity to interact with fictional characters in real-life ways is just the beginning of what’s in store when AI gets in the hands of pioneering marketers and the companies behind them.