Jury Duty's Ronald Gladden Visits Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile
Another meta marvel from Maximum Effort
“I have some major trust issues,” Ronald Gladden tells Ryan Reynolds in a new spot for Mint Mobile. “I’ve been through some sh**, man.”
Gladden rocketed to fame as the every-dude star of Amazon Freevee mockumentary Jury Duty. In the show, he doesn’t know that everyone’s an actor and there’s no actual trial. Mint riffs on that concept for a mildly paranoid tale told in Reynolds’ classic snarky style.
Reynolds says, “It’s hard to believe that in a time of crazy inflation, Mint is still just $15 a month. Can you believe that Ronald?” Gladden expresses some doubts and looks around for hidden cameras.
“The camera’s right there.” Ryan gestures straight ahead. “It’s massive.”
Basically, we’ve got a perfect, culturally attuned :30. Reynolds effortlessly toys with meta-media notions, along with the best possible guest star, in a scenario that seems tailor-made for the brand.
In the end, Ryan hugs Gladden and assures him “I’ve got you.” Then he adds: “You can trust me, I’m an actor.”
Let’s see ChatGPT write a script like that! (It probably could. *sigh*)
Maximum Effort, which Reynolds co-founded, produced the commercial for Mint, which retained Ryan as spokesman following T-Mobile’s March acquisition of the brand’s parent company.