Watch Mint Mobile’s nearly 30-minute infomercial filled with nostalgia

Mint Mobile’s newest marketing stunt is a long one, consuming nearly 30 minutes of TV airtime. In a nod to 1990s nostalgia, the wireless brand produced an infomercial, backing it with a healthy media buy. The 28:31 stunt stars Mint’s resident spokesman Ryan Reynolds leading viewers through a series of customer testimonies, old Mint ads and goofy segments—like a cooking show where the chef makes a minty mojito. Several brands have leaned into nostalgia over the last year as they look to attract both older and new consumers. To get a sense of the vibes Mint is going for, look no further than actor and martial artist Billy Blanks opening the show with a “full-body financial workout” routine reminiscent of his “Tae Bo” exercise show. Mint made the ad alongside agency partner Maximum Effort. “The beauty of an infomercial is the cost-per-second of airtime is much more affordable than a traditional 30-second spot,” a Mint spokesperson said via email. “We are using this to our advantage and plan to evaluate performance based on total reach and total expense. And with Ryan hosting the Mintfomercial we fully expect people to tune in for the full 30 minutes.” Mint purchased 226 airings of its “Mintfomerical” across 16 networks including A&E, Food Network, History Channel, ION Television, Paramount, TruTV and CNBC. The infomercial debuted on the Cooking Channel at 4:30 a.m. ET and will continue to air until Dec. 29. Mint will also upload it to YouTube. It declined to disclose media spend. Maximum Effort is no stranger to unconventional media buys. The Reynolds-backed agency was behind a Lay’s campaign that ran on Groundhog Day and involved running the same eight ads 75 times on ABC, featuring “Groundhog Day” actor Stephen Tobolowsky purchasing Lay’s chips as he loses his sanity in a grocery store. Mint opted for the longer ad to have more time to tell its brand story, according to the agency. “While ‘$15 premium wireless’ kind of says it all, there is definitely more to the Mint Mobile story,” said Kathleen Swanson, creative director at Maximum Effort. “Let's just say there is a director’s cut.” Brands occasionally evoke infomercials for comedic effect—like Liquid Death did in 2021 to promote its zombie-proof head protector, created in partnership with the Netflix film “Army of the Dead.” More commonly, brands condense the familiar “there’s got to be a better way” infomercial vibe into shorter spots. Liquid Death perhaps has been the biggest infomercial torchbearer. It emulated the spirit of the infomercial when it held an auction for ad space on its packages as part of a Super Bowl stunt earlier this year. In 2023, it spoofed home gym infomercials in a 60-second spot. Infomercials have also inspired brands such as Ohsnap to pursue comedy generally. Read about all of the 2024 Marketers of the Year

Watch Mint Mobile’s nearly 30-minute infomercial filled with nostalgia

Featured Stories