Wrexham gets a Hollywood sign, but not from Ryan Reynolds

When the small Welsh border town of Wrexham suddenly got its own Hollywood-style sign last Sunday, everyone assumed it had something to do with Ryan Reynolds -- who recently bought the town's soccer club Wrexham AFC, along with his friend, comedian Rob McElhenny. But for once, the ubiquitous star wasn't behind this marketing stunt. The mysterious sign's appearance above the town sparked social media intrigue, and Reynolds himself even got in on the story in typical wisecracking style, tweeting "I wish I'd thought of that. But if I were to really dig into it, I wish I wasn’t someone who wished they'd thought of that." The sign was actually a PR stunt on behalf of Vanarama, a vehicle leasing site that sponsors the U.K.'s National League in which Wrexham currently plays. With the new season kicking off this weekend (Aug. 21), the idea was conceived by agency Dark Horses, which cleverly played into the Reynolds celebrity connnection. It claimed ownership of the stunt today, adding an extra sign reading "VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SEASON PREMIERE AUG 21." “Ahead of the new season we wanted to create a campaign that gets people talking and also shine a light on the magic of non-league football as the exciting new season begins," said Andy Alderson, CEO at Vanarama, in a statement. "We’re exceptionally proud to be the longest standing sponsor of any football league in the UK. So much football news is dominated by outrageous money and player transfers, that we are proud to have helped get a slag heap in north Wales onto both the front and back pages. ” “The National League has suffered probably more than any other tier in football since the start of the pandemic," added Steve Howell, executive creative director at Dark Horses. "But as crowds return to stadiums we wanted to bring attention to the lower echelons of football and get people talking about the start of the season, by playing off the added interest one club in particular has recently garnered. And you never know, maybe the sign could become a permanent feature of the Welsh landscape.”

Wrexham gets a Hollywood sign, but not from Ryan Reynolds

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