Early this morning, Mint Mobile released a new spot featuring the budget mobile carrier’s co-owner, Ryan Reynolds, awkwardly chatting with beloved actor and comedian Rick Moranis. It warmed our cold 2020 hearts.
But Reynolds didn’t stop there. His cellphone company released two more ads today touting its new unlimited talk, text and data plan.
The first spot features the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of midnight rider and Revolutionary War folk hero Paul Revere, Avery Revere. She’s not an actor, and Reynolds mouths the script along with her as she reads it for a perfectly awkward delivery. When a horse is trotted out, Revere assures Reynolds that she is “not getting on a horse, Ryan.”
The second ad puts the spotlight on 2019 National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson. When he won the award this spring, Robinson had been teaching for 19 years, most recently at a juvenile jail, according to an April interview with NPR. By teaching his students about the history of prisons and giving them tools to advocate for themselves, he connects education to their life experiences in a profound way.
But in the spot for Mint, Robinson simply helps Reynolds with his math and gives him a confidence boost—$30 is, in fact, less than half of $80 (what “the big carriers charge” for unlimited plans, according to Reynolds). Robinson also helps Reynolds admit it’s best to find validation in your work rather than “a bunch of random members of an academy.”
Reynolds, who is speaking at Adweek’s weeklong Brandweek Masters Live virtual event next week, bought Mint Mobile roughly 10 months ago. He’d already purchased a controlling stake in Aviation American Gin the year prior and has made his mark on both brands. Last month, Diageo bought Aviation, choosing to keep Reynolds on as co-owner and creative lead for the brand.
