Marketing’s ‘It’ Couple: Ryan Reynolds, Peloton/Aviation Gin Actress Monica Ruiz

By Barry Janoff

December 8, 2019: Hollywood and fans are always looking for the next “It” couple.

How about Ryan Reynolds and Monica Ruiz.

Reynolds is married to actress Blake Lively, Ruiz to Christopher O'Malley.

But Reynolds is being more closely associated these days with Ruiz, whose face is being seen over broadcast, digital and social media thanks to her part in the Peloton commercial, “The Gift That Gives Back.”

That spot, posted to YouTube on Nov. 21 and with more than 5.5 million views to date, shows a husband gifting his wife (Ruiz) a Peloton stationary bike, which she fervently uses over the next year while documenting her progress.

It inspired numerous parodies, including one in which the woman becomes paranoid about her life and body then ultimately presents her husband with the gift of divorce papers.

Reynolds took his own spin on the situation, putting Ruiz in a real spot for Aviation Gin, which he owns.

In “The Gift That Doesn’t Give Back,” Ruiz is out with two friends after, it is implied, having left her husband, also implied, from the Peloton commercial.

“To new beginnings,” they toast as Ruiz’ character downs a glass of Aviation Gin. “You’re safe here.” One then adds in a sarcastic reference to the Peloton spot, “You look great, by the way.”

With the digital version — posted to YouTube Dec. 6 and with nearly three million views to date — Reynolds added, “Exercise bike not included, #Aviation Gin.”

“I was happy to accept a job opportunity earlier this year from Peloton and the team was lovely to work with,” Ruiz said via her agency, LA Talent. “Although I’m an actress, I am not quite comfortable being in spotlight and I’m terrible on social media. So to say I was shocked and overwhelmed by the attention this week (especially the negative) is an understatement.

“When Ryan and his production team called about Aviation Gin, they helped me find some humor in the situation. I am grateful to both Peloton and now Aviation Gin for the work and giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do.”

Reynolds also snuck an earlier Aviator Gin spot into a new spot from Samsung QLED for his new Netflix movie, 6 Underground, premiering Dec. 13.

“Why is that ad in here,” the director for the Samsung spot asks Reynolds.

“I bought mid-roll placement ad placement,” Reynolds says.

“You bought ad ad for your gin within an ad for movie within an ad for Samsung TV?”

“It felt like the right thing to do.”

Reynolds is also getting face time for promoting his July 2020 movie, Free Guy, with several trailers that include a mock infomercial, "Free Guy: Limited Time Offer," selling items from the movie, with co-stars Jodie Comer, Joe Kerry and Lil Rel Howery.
 
In the movie, Reynolds plays a bank teller who, in sort of nod to The Matrix, finds his reality is not what he thnks it is and that he is actually a background player in an open-world video game.

In the infomercial — was posted to YouTube on Dec. 7 and has more than 4.3 million views to date — Reynolds  is seen offering his blue bank teller’s shirt, striped tie and even his "Guy” name tag.

“As seen on Ryan Reynolds' body in Hollywood Movie,” offers the faux information. “$16.99 ten easy payments of $1.99 each.”

Also offered to early callers is an official “Little GuyGuy action figure."

A number is flashed on-screen — 1-906-Free-Guy — which when called gets Reynold’s voice saying, “Everything is sold out, cause none of it exists."

Like the Free Guy character in the movie, Reynolds himself gets to write his own marketing scripts, where “there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way . . . before it is too late.”

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