To celebrate the Winter Olympics, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds took to social media to share a new cocktail based on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Called the “Miracle on Ice,” the drink features Aviation Gin (in which Reynolds has an ownership stake, making him the perfect pitchman) along with cold brew coffee, ice, and oat milk. The ad, which you can see below, features the hockey team’s captain, Mike Eruzione, and talks about triumph over adversity and sending a message to the world. Of course, it’s hard to ignore that in 1980, the U.S. beat the U.S.S.R. in the “miracle” game (which set the stage for a win against Finland for the Olympic gold), and right now, tensions are ratcheting up between the U.S. and Russia.
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Update 2/22/22, 7 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect that the final game was not against the Soviets, but the “miracle” set the stage for the title match two days later. We regret the error.
“Miracle on Ice” is the colloquial name for the 1980 game between the US and USSR. Then, the Soviet Union was a four-time defending gold medalist and heavily favored, but the U.S. (likely bolstered by a supportive home crowd) outlasted them and won the game 4-3. The drama was even higher than you might expect from that score, as the U.S. team went into the third and final period down 3-2.
As you might expect from Reynolds, the ad for the drink features Eruzione trying to say meaningful, emotional things, while Reynolds keeps interrupting him to insult Russian vodka and shill for his gin. At one point, Eruzione even picks up a bottle and comments, “This was founded in 2006!” in order to drive home the absurdity of Reynolds’s manufactured rivalry.
You can see the ad below.
The 1980 game between the US and USSR has gone down in Olympic history as one of the great upsets. It was the basis for a 1981 made-for-TV movie that starred Steve Guttenberg, as well as the 2001 documentary Do You Believe in Miracles?, which was voiced by Liev Schreiber. It finally got a big-screen adaptation in 2004, directed by Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant) and starring Kurt Russell.
The “miracle” moniker came largely from play by play announcer Al Michaels, whose “Do you believe in miracles? YES!” call one of the most famous moments in sportscasting history. Michaels actually recreated most of his play-by-play for the 2004 movie, but O’Connor opted to use the original footage of the famous call, telling Michaels that they couldn’t ask him to match the intensity of the moment when it happened in real time.
