How Ryan Reynolds Quietly Became the Most Sought After Name in Advertising

Over the past three years, the actor has completely taken over the ad space, promoting everything from Mint Mobile to his own Aviation Gin brand.

If it seems like every other advertisement you watch features Ryan Reynolds…it's because it probably does. Over the past three years, the actor has completely taken over the ad space, promoting everything from Mint Mobile to his own Aviation Gin brand. And when it became clear his methods were working, he launched his own marketing firm Maximum Effort.

Ryan and his business partner George Dewey founded the company in 2018, not long after the massive success of their "Deadpool 2" marketing campaign. The duo strayed away from traditional marketing tactics in favor of playing on cultural moments and creating partnerships. Deadpool, himself, partnered with companies like Trolli Candy, Loot Crate, 7-Eleven, Mike's Harder beer and even Espolòn, a Mexican tequila company. On top of that, Deadpool inserted himself directly into pop culture including a Good Housekeeping issue, iconic movie DVD covers (that were actually sold in stores) and a Bob Ross-inspired promo video.

The tactic, which Ryan has now coined "fast-vertising," involves treating real-time cultural moments as a springboard to build brand buzz. In 2019, the company did just that when they used Peleton’s viral ad, where a man gifted his wife the bike for Christmas, as inspiration to promote Aviation Gin. Ryan recruited the actual actress from the commercial to take part in his new ad, which saw the once concerned looking wife enjoying a night out with friends while toasting to “new beginnings.”

"We love acknowledging and playing with the cultural landscape and thought this was a great opportunity to do something. You see how everything is divisive these days…but we had this thought that we could do this ad without contributing to that divide and without really vilifying anybody, just sort of commenting on the person and the actress in the ad. For us it was a no brainer. It was a lot of fun and it was a rush. We did this in 36 hours," Ryan said on the "Today" show.

Then, after years of success for Maximum Effort that saw Mint Mobile grow over 50,000% and led to the $600 million sale of Aviation Gin, the company announced they were merging with ad-tech firm MNTN. IN 2021, the two groups joined forces in the hopes of improving TV ads by making things "simpler, smarter, and open to more companies." And based on Ryan's previous work, it's safe to say he's already definitely made advertisements more enjoyable.

Here are some of Ryan’s best advertisements to date…

1. Match Made in Hell for Match.com

2. Maximum Jackman for R.M. Williams ft. Hugh Jackman

3. Ryan Reynolds' Vasectomy for Aviation Gin

4. Next Level Reynolds for "Free Guy"

5. Dream Job for Mint Mobile

6. Arlene's Big Leap for Aviation Gin

7. A $500 Ad for Mint Mobile

8. Nice Morning for Laughing Man Coffee ft. Hugh Jackman

9. Ryan & Rick Moranis for Mint Mobile

10. Me And My Oscars for Oscar Mayer ft. Alfonso Ribeiro

11. Shoulder Patties for Jack in the Box

12. The American Gin for Aviation Gin

13. Bitcoin DocuMintary for Mint Mobile

14. Contextual Advertising for "6 Undergound"/Samsung/Aviation Gin

15. The Wait Of The World for Heinz Ketchup ft. Alfonso Ribeiro