Ryan Reynolds and His Agency President Reflect on the Realities of Fastvertising

If there are two things Ryan Reynolds loves, it's—well OK, it's probably his wife and kids. But professionally, the answers are rapid-turnaround advertising and Canadian icons. So it's no surprise that when enduring comedy actor Dave Foley tweeted about wanting to appear in a Mint Mobile ad, Reynolds launched his agency, Maximum Effort, into motion. Even by the crew's admittedly high-velocity standards, the project was executed whiplash-inducingly fast. It was filmed within six hours of Foley's tweet and went live within a day. https://twitter.com/DaveSFoley/status/1488963924158337024 https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1489286266478858240 Foley joins a growing list of subjects featured in ads quickly generated by Maximum Effort to take advantage of topical conversations, usually to the benefit of Reynolds-owned Mint Mobile or Aviation Gin, though the roster of other clients has grown steadily in recent years. Last year, as LeVar Burton finally got his chance to guest-host Jeopardy!, Maximum Effort assembled an overnight ad featuring Burton as "guest host" of a spot for Aviation Gin. Maximum Effort has twice jumped on Peloton-related trending conversations—first with a parody spot for Aviation in 2019 and then with an official Peloton ad amid buzz around its role in HBO Max's Sex and the City reboot. (The latter was pulled soon after, as allegations of sexual assault arose against actor Chris Noth.) The speed of Maximum Effort productions, while commendable as a logistical feat, has also sparked some debate in the ad industry about whether such tight turnaround could have negative effects—namely for those at other agencies who might feel pressured to accomplish overnight productions without the infrastructure in place to make it happen. To discuss that and how the newest spot came together, Adweek caught up with Reynolds and Maximum Effort president George Dewey for a chat about the pros and cons of "fastvertising," along with how they might decide whom among the Twitter hopeful to feature in future ads: Adweek: First let's talk about Dave Foley and his impact on comedy since the '90s. Feels like he must have had a big influence on you, Ryan. Ryan Reynolds: Kids in the Hall had such a massive influence on Canadian culture. Kind of akin to peak SNL in the U.S. That and SCTV were my comedy parents for sure. Also, NewsRadio was and is criminally underrated. Your fans always love these quick-turnaround ads, but some in the industry express concerns it can set a difficult example, like their clients will say, "If Ryan Reynolds can make an ad in 24 hours, you can make our ad in 24 hours." What would you say to those agency folks and their clients? George Dewey, president of Maximum Effort and chief brand officer of MNTN: First, those clients kinda sound like a nag. Second, we do very dumb stuff like this because we love it and when you’re responding to anything social, timing matters. We definitely like to move faster and with less overthink and some of that can be good for our industry but these occurrences are the exception, not the rule. - GD Have you learned any keys to creating an overnight ad without disrupting longer-term projects? Is it about having specific teams for these kinds of initiatives? Dewey: Yeah, we have a system now. We have specific shooting teams and approaches, but it’s really more of a swarm than anything else. It sort of just has to be when so many things need to get done in such a short amount of time. It feels like you're going to have more and more celebrities and followers asking to be in Mint's ads. Any idea how you'll decide which ones to pursue and actually turn into spots? Reynolds: What’s so funny is that when I first bought into the company, I tried to get some celebrity friends to switch. But celebrities are, to borrow a terrible phrase, "just like us," and a lot of them were skeptical that $15 a month wireless could be as good as it actually is. So bring them on! Come one, come all! I Couldn’t Help But Wonder …. Is 48 Hours The New Turnaround Time?