Ryan Reynolds shared the secret to what makes those Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin commercials work so well. The Marvel star sat down with Adweek for their Brandweek event to talk about his work on Mint Mobile, Aviation Gin, and Maximum Effort. This year, despite all the economic uncertainty, all of these brands have still managed to craft ads that got a bunch of media attention and connected with audiences. Just last week, Mint Mobile’s ad featuring Rick Moranis took over the Internet for a day. A lot of people would believe that Reynolds and his teams are always prepared with an ad because the climate demands it. But, according to the Deadpool star, it ends up being the result of having a vision that they believe in and following through. You can organically reach a lot of people by knowing what people share and how to fit into a conversation.
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“We’re really risk-averse. So, people really think that we like to shoot from the hip, because we move so quickly and that sort of stuff,” he began. “But, we really think this stuff through. We really find our guard rails. In the same way I write Deadpool. It’s like, ‘Okay, what is a person that’s hyper-sensitive to this type of material going to say?’ What’s the guy who just doesn’t give a **** about anything going to say? I want to find the middle where everyone feels sort of seen in that.”
“If you can find a way to move quickly and acknowledge and play with the cultural landscape, that’s a huge advantage—striking while the iron’s hot and not dwelling too much on it when it’s done.” @VancityReynolds #Brandweek pic.twitter.com/oANxjnnxID
— Adweek @ #Brandweek (@Adweek) September 17, 2020
“I’ve approached that with Aviation and everything else we’re working on,” Reynolds added. “Working through that lens of empathy and that guides us in a weird way. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be subversive or super funny, and risky, or at least feel super risky. But, it definitely prevents you from stepping in the wrong direction. I say that knowing that I am just as susceptible to stepping in something that I didn’t mean to step in as anybody. There are mistakes.”
I broke down how the Moranis commercial for Mint played out for Comicbook.com last week:
“If that weren’t enough of a strange day on the Mint Mobile front. Rick Moranis got recruited by Reynolds to be in a commercial for the brand. He stepped into the frame and the entire Internet went ballistic because of how long it’s been since the beloved star was in much of anything. Moranis’ name was trending on Twitter in no time and the wireless company had another viral hit on their hands.”
“The Deadpool star compared the lack of an unlimited plan at his company to the Ghostbuster’s absence from Hollywood. Also, Moranis really doesn’t have much to say in the ad. He just gives one of those classic Moranis faces and walks away. Apparently, that’s enough to get the entire Internet going as there were GIFs and other memes coming from the commercial.”
What’s your favorite Ryan Reynolds commercial? Let us know down in the comments!
