Ryan Reynolds’ Ugly Sweater Brings Holiday Fundraising Joy to Hospitalized Children
This past year in the marketing world could plausibly be considered the year of Ryan Reynolds.
Throughout the year the star, with his Maximum Effort Productions partner George Dewey, continued to put Reynolds’ brand Aviation Gin way ahead of its competitors in terms of impact and exposure.
Reynolds, who expanded his portfolio with a stake in Mint Mobile, was all over the place for other brands, too. The Vancouver native had several hilarious promotions for his Detective Pikachu film and somehow managed to jam Aviation Gin and his new Netflix movie into a Samsung TV ad.
While Reynolds has channeled his superpowers for marketing success, at the end of the year, his ugly Christmas sweater—made famous in a 2018 photo with his “foil” Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal—played a prime role in a new video for the SickKids Foundation, asking people to donate before the arrival of Santa.
The animated short featured photos of 10 current SickKids patients in addition to an intensive care physician, an anesthesiologist and a nurse at the hospital. It is a bit of a diversion from the organization’s previous emotional campaigns created by Cossette, including one earlier this year that was considered one of Adweek’s 25 best ads of 2019.
All told, the campaign, which supports The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, raised over $300,000, with $100,000 donated by Reynolds, who has supported the organization for several years.
In addition to Reynolds, Jackman and Toronto Maple Leafs player Auston Matthews participated in the campaign.
The funds raised will help the organization toward its goal of $1.3 billion to build a new hospital to replace its current 70-year-old building.
