Conan O'Brien's Barbarian Beard Doing Wonders For American Express

Clearly people are finally starting to get used to the sight of Conan O’Brien and his hobo beard.

O’Brien grew what many dubbed the ‘unemployment beard’ since he lost his high-profile job as the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show earlier in the year.

Many feared for O’Brien, who unlike a lot of American TV’s late night ‘funnymen’ is actually quite funny, especially when he started to grow his unsightly facial hair and, worst still, joined Twitter.

But he made a triumphant return to late night television on TBS last night as the host of the originally titled, Conan, still sporting the beard.

And in an effort to tap into some of the buzz surrounding his comeback, American Express began airing an ad last night in which O’Brien travels to India to put the finishing touches to his new show.

And the trick seems to have worked, with the Amex ad one of the hottest ads on the Viral Video Chart.

In the video he is seen haggling with Indian traders for material, stomping on petals to make the dye and gossiping with the local washer women in a bid to get just the right curtains for his show.

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