Ryan Reynolds: Aviation Gin gives 84-year-old Arlene Manko her first legal drink

If he was eligible, Ryan Reynolds must surely rank among the world’s top ten creatives. His work, especially for his own brand, Aviation Gin, is quirky, inventive, fun and wonderfully engaging. This time, Reynolds and team have hit on the fact that anyone born on a leap day has a birthday only once every four years. So Arlene Manko, born in 1936, has just turned 21. Technically, Reynolds notes in his voiceover, she was five years old when she married.

In the US, turning 21 means that Arlene is able to drink legally. Everyone can either relate to or remember waiting for this milestone and Reynolds has made sure that Arlene’s reaching the milestone is bonded to the enjoyment of his gin.

Uncharacteristically, Reynolds doesn’t appear in the new ad but he does narrate it. (Reynolds didn’t appear in his Peleton parody ad for Aviation gin either https://www.thestable.com.au/ryan-reynolds-another-ad-stroke-of-genius-for-aviation-gin/). And this time, Maximum Effort, the content studio that Reynolds co-founded with his creative partner, George Dewey, collaborated with another agency, 160over90, to create the spot. Reynolds did, though, launch the ad in his usual fashion, on social media.

Arlene Manko was born in 1936. But tomorrow, she’ll turn 21 years old. #HappyLeapDay pic.twitter.com/76E0le6FT8

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 28, 2020