Talk about marketing multitasking. In his latest ad appearance, Ryan Reynolds pitches three products at once—his new Netflix movie, a Samsung TV and Aviation Gin.
The TV ad begins with the actor plugging Samsung’s QLED TV as the best way to watch the movie “6 Underground,” which starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 13. Then, midway through, an ad for Aviation appears on the large-screen TV Reynolds is hawking, prompting him to confess that “I bought mid-roll ad placement.” The ad was handled by Adam & Eve DDB's New York office in collaboration with Reynolds’ production company, Maximum Effort Productions.
Reynolds has an ownership stake in the gin brand, which is controlled by Davos Brands. While the gin brand shares the stage with Netflix and Samsung, the spot marks its first national TV spot, according to a spokeswoman. The partnership extends to Samsung’s website, which highlights “6 Underground” as part of a plug that touts its TVs as the best place to watch Netflix premiers.
The TV spot, which shows Reynolds interacting with a character playing an ad director, is the latest example of self-aware advertising. The tactic—in which ads own up to being nothing more than ads—has risen in popularity this year. Oat milk brand Oatly, for instance, has run an outdoor campaign built primarily on self-referential ads, with language like “You actually read this? Total success” on a bus stop ad.
The meta approach fits Reynolds’ style. After all, he routinely breaks the so-called “fourth wall” in his “Deadpool” movies.
