Ryan Reynolds is no stranger to cultural cache, having appeared in tons of blockbuster movies over the years, but also being a common face in digital advertisements. Now, he’s going to focus on making culturally significant ads all year round.
Reynolds has his own marketing agency called Maximum Effort, which was recently acquired by ad tech company MNTN, and he believes the speed to be able to deliver cultural moments as ads to “drop into a cultural conversation” is what the company can provide.
“I feel like there’s no reason we can’t have Super Bowl–level advertising all year round,” Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter.
“You can make a tremendous impact in the marketplace when you’re moving at the speed of culture.”
Recently, the company released a viral Peloton ad right after a character from And Just Like That… suffered a heart attack on one.
Following that, the most recent Super Bowl saw Reynolds appear in ads for both Netflix and McDonald’s, while also appearing in an intentionally wonky ad for Mint Mobile — a company he’s a part-owner of.
“Every time I’ve been involved in anything that has not worked, be it showbiz or outside of it, usually the two culprits are that we’ve had too much time and too much money,” Reynolds said.
“When you know you’re working with less, it just forces everyone on the team to think outside the box.”
The ad was made to poke fun at all the overpriced, slick, and super-produced Super Bowl ads that sometimes have to be produced months in advance.
Reynolds started the company in 2018 with the former 20th Century Fox digital marketing VP George Dewey, having first worked together on Deadpool.