DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE: is this the title of a movie, or are they the two hardest-working promoters in show business?
As Deadpool & Wolverine crosses the billion-dollar mark with a Worldwide Gross of $1,036,025,800 – a feat accomplished by just 50 or so movies in history – my reaction to the news is, “They’ve earned it.”
To be clear, I haven’t seen the movie yet; I’ve heard it’s good, and I assume it’s really entertaining, and like many people I’m a big fan of both Reynolds and Jackman. But when I say they’ve earned this Box Office milestone, I do so in the context of what they’ve done to promote the film.
An ad blitz is one thing, and a studio’s marketing campaign strategy is important, but when you see the film’s stars pop up at a Green Day concert and on a billboard for Heinz ketchup and mustard, someone’s working overtime. And in this case, it’s Ryan and Hugh.
They’ve been having a great time, that much is clear – and their financial rewards are more than ample – but there’s something else going on here: the confluence of a cinematic universe, a movie franchise, and two human beings, all working in concert creating beautiful synergistic music with their brands.
Ryan Reynolds – with his irreverent, self-deprecating style, enriched by a warm and fuzzy center – has rightly been celebrated over the past several years for his creative marketing savvy. MNTN (pronounced “Mountain”) acquired his creative company Maximum Effort in 2021, tapping Reynolds as MNTN’s Chief Creative Officer and his co-founder George Dewey as Chief Brand Officer. His success building and selling Mint Mobile and Aviation American Gin – not to mention the $6B+ 2024 sale of the Reynolds-backed fintech company Nuvei – precedes the current Deadpool & Wolverine bonanza.
Hugh Jackman – the consummate entertainer who can seamlessly slide from thrillers like Prisoners to a filmed version of Broadway’s Les Miserable, the dreamy musical The Greatest Showman, and, of course, X-Men – co-founded fair trade Laughing Man Coffee in 2009, and on the consumer products side, it launched a partnership with Keurig to produce Hugh’s House Blend and Dukale’s Dream coffee pods for the retail market. 100% of the profits from these sales go directly to their 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Laughing Man Foundation.
So, leveraging their popularity to pitch the products they believe in aligns with each actor’s Personal Brand. Audiences may not know the particulars, but the message is driven home so consistently – and the fellas are as famous as they are ubiquitous – that their matchup in the Deadpool franchise context makes perfect sense.
Of course, the undisputed king of movie promotion, Tom Cruise, is keeping Reynolds and Jackman on their toes, most recently with his international skydiving, sign-scaling, chopper-riding stunt at the Olympics closing ceremony, culminating with his delivery of the Olympic flag to Los Angeles, which will host the games in 2028.
Again, Cruise’s stunt was a perfect fit for his Personal Brand – a tireless pro always seeking to top his latest accomplishment, who will do absolutely anything to please his audience, and who is, though exceedingly gracious and team-oriented, a solo act.
There is much to learn from these artists – and the list of women and men in the movie business who embody and are emboldened through their Personal Brands is long – but the takeaway for me in reading the news this morning was this:
The sweetest success is born of passion, not for success itself, but for the joy one takes in its pursuit.
This is what it takes to Love the Brand You See in the Mirror
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