Yesterday in my post aboutRyan Reynolds, Peloton, and And Just Like That, I wrote about the turnaround time for Ryan’s agency, Maximum Effort, to produce the new Peloton ad that came out this weekend that basically fixed the company’s crisis following the premiere of theSex and the Cityspinoff and Big dying after working out on one of their bikes.
People were thinking conspiracy, that this was the plan all along – but as I noted, it’s actually not that hard to believe that they put this together so quickly. The ad itself is not that complicated to shoot and edit. And now Ryan has confirmed that there was, indeed, no advance knowledge of this by any of the parties involved.Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan detailed the whirlwind process behind the scenes:
“To start, there was no conversation between Maximum Effort and Peloton about the And Just Like That episode featuring Mr. Big’s demise debuted. The wheels were set in motion after it aired and fans lost their minds, Reynolds explains.
“By pure luck, we’d been talking to Peloton about our Creative-as-a-Subscription [launched with MNTN] product in the week before this all happened,” Reynolds tells THR. “I literally met Dara [Treseder, CMO of Peloton] for the first time on Dec. 1. She emailed us right after the episode aired and we all knew just what to do. We try to do these things in a way where everyone wins — Peloton, Chris and the show itself.”
The time from conception to cameras rolling was 24 hours, Reynolds notes, adding, “Chris was in right away, but it was a whirlwind. For all of us. I certainly helped secure Chris, but Maximum Effort has built itself on challenges like these so, while never ever easy, the secret is practice and not losing heart when challenges inevitably occur.”
I don’t mean to gloat, but I do – see? As I wrote in my post yesterday, it’s a simple shoot, a couple of close-ups and a wide. And a simple edit, with a voiceover that can be recorded virtually anywhere. Probably what took the longest was setting up the scene and the lighting. And the logistics, which includes negotiating Chris Noth’s fee and putting together his contract. On the production side though, an innovative and nimble agency like Maximum Effort is fully capable of delivering this on maximum efficiency, which huge yield.
Because Ryan is right: everybody wins.And Just Like That …premiered with all kinds of buzz given what happened in the story and the Peloton controversy. Peloton may have had a few moments of panic but in just three short days with a funny viral ad, promoted by Ryan, a major movie star, they went from stock drop to a total headline pivot, and per THR, a “$900 million market cap restoration”.
But of course the biggest reputational win is for Ryan and Maximum Effort. To achieve that at such speed, at relatively low cost (it’s estimated the production costs for the ad were around $80K – in my opinion that likely doesn’t include talent fees) creating in such a major splash…and just in time for the holidays?
You can’t buy those results. But Ryan and Maximum Effort have certainly earned them. I know I keep saying it but this is the kind of sh-t that makes me horny because it’s pureShow Your Work. It’s optimal Show Your Work energy. This, really, to me is Ryan’s greatest performance of the last decade. What he and his team are doing at Maximum Effort is nothing short of spectacular.
Attached – Ryan out for a walk in New York yesterday.
