MNTN resurfaces the first-ever TV ad, from 1941, to launch ‘MNTN Matched’ platform

Ryan Reynolds has always been an honorary ad nerd, and for his latest MNTN project he brings back one of the most classic (yet somehow still obscure) TV commercials ever—the very first one, aired by Bulova watches in 1941. The spot, which ran during the Brooklyn Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies baseball game on WNBT-TV in New York, was seen by only a few thousand people (there were only about 4,000 TV sets in the New York area at the time) but heralded a new golden age of mass advertising. (The commercial cost Bulova $4 for air charges and $5 for station charges.) Reynolds invokes the Bulova spot—and welcomes a current Bulova exec—in the video above announcing the launch of MNTN Matched, a new AI-enabled platform from the performance TV advertising company. The message is that MNTN Matched intends to be as pioneering in the TV ad space as the Bulova spot was. (Bulova is also an MNTN client.) Also read: Why Ryan Reynolds pitched his ad platform MNTN during the ‘Shark Tank’ premiere MNTN Matched features a keyword-based audience builder for CTV, which promises the precision of search and social media advertising but on TV. It also includes generative AI features that create marketing profiles for advertisers. "MNTN has moved beyond targeting with MNTN Matched,” said Mark Douglas, MNTN’s president and CEO. “Early adopters of the feature, like Onewheel and HexClad, have shown their confidence by scaling their investment after seeing significant performance gains. What’s really exciting is that this tech, initially designed for small and midsize businesses, is now attracting much larger brands. They see the value and benefits, revolutionizing advertising not just for challenger brands, but for everyone.” Popular Creativity stories from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

MNTN resurfaces the first-ever TV ad, from 1941, to launch ‘MNTN Matched’ platform

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