Update: Fresh off out post last night that Ryan Reynolds had recruited fellow Canadian comedian Dave Foley to take part in a commercial for his company Mint Mobile, the Deadpool actor has revealed the official commercial featuring the Kids in the Hall star. In a tweet, Reynolds wrote: “We made the commercial a mere six hours later. Although we haven’t written it yet. Thanks, @DaveSFoley @MintMobile @MaximumEffort.” You can watch the new video below, which seems as authentic as a commercial made in six hours could be.
No one ever accused Ryan Reynolds of being lazy, and if they did they should see the record speed with which he turned a viral tweet into a commercial for his company Mint Mobile. It all started as a message from fellow Canadian comedian Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall, who asked Reynolds if he could appear in a Mint Mobile ad if he switched providers. At 3:34 PM ET Reynolds accepted the terms of this deal, posting a photo at 8:35 PM ET of Foley on the set of said ad. Reynolds captioned the photo: “New @MaximumEffort land speed record.”
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Reynolds’ purchased his ownership stake in Mint mobile back in 2019 and immediately began churning out memorable and viral commercials for the wireless service, done in conjunction with his production company/marketing agency Maximum Effort. Among the ads they’ve put together include one with Rick Moranis, a descendent of Paul Revere, Gary Busey, and one where Satan and the year 2020 start dating. Mint Mobile has also made a splash during the Super Bowl a few times, first for their “Chunky Milk” commercial and again in successive years where Reynolds took out full-page newspaper ads to reveal that he wasn’t paying for a new Super Bowl ad.
This isn’t the first time that Reynolds has moved at breakneck speed to get an ad made after something has gone viral. Following a bizarre ad from Peloton that seemed to be implying sinister intentions, Reynolds hired the actress for an ad for his Aviation Gin brand. He also very recently teamed up with Peloton for an ad featuring actor Chris Noth which was released right after his character died in a TV series from a Peloton-induced heart attack. That ad quickly disappeared after Noth was accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
“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,” Reynolds previously told Adweek about their marketing strategies at Maximum Effort. “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.”
“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.”
