"Winnie-the-Screwed" is a 2022 online advertisement published by Ryan Reynolds to promote the telecommunications company Mint Mobile, which he partially owned. It is a parody of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, and was created to commemorate the book entering the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2022, a day prior to the advertisement's release.
| "Winnie-the-Screwed" | |
|---|---|
 The cover of the fictional book from the commercial | |
| Based on | Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne |
| Narrated by | Ryan Reynolds |
Release date |
|
Running time | 1 minute 29 seconds |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Content
editThe advertisement begins with Ryan Reynolds explaining that January 1 was Public Domain Day, and that Winnie-the-Pooh was one of the works that entered the public domain. He jokes that Mint Mobile would likely "be hearing from a certain mouse about this Pooh very, very soon"[1] before beginning to narrate a fictional book titled Winnie-the-Screwed, which uses repurposed illustrations by E. H. Shepard.[2] In the book, Winnie-the-Screwed (also called Edward Bear)[3] struggles with high bill prices from "big wireless", going so far as to bang his head against his table in frustration, unaware that Mint Mobile holds the solution to his problem. The narrator character then informs Christopher Robin that by switching to Mint Mobile, he could get three months of service for free. After finishing the narration, Reynolds jokes that he may have misinterpreted copyright law, and the final illustration shows Winnie-the-Screwed receiving a cease and desist order.[3] In a comment posted alongside the video on Twitter, Reynolds claimed that the advertisement "took some creative liberties", but stuck "pretty close to the source material".[1][4]
Reception
editThe advertisement was the subject of multiple news articles, as it was the first major parody of Winnie-the-Pooh after the book entered the public domain. Michael Cavna from The Washington Post called it "the first prominent spoof of Public Domain Pooh",[5] and Drew Weisholtz from Today described Reynolds' performance as "very soothing".[6] Russ Burlingame from Comicbook.com commented that as a parody, the advertisement would have likely been legally protected even if Winnie-the-Pooh was not in the public domain.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Ryan Reynolds uses Winnie the Pooh in mobile ad as character joins public domain". The Independent. 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Ryan Reynolds Makes Winnie-The-Pooh Parody After Public Domain Day". ScreenRant. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ a b "Ryan Reynolds Just Ruined Winnie-the-Pooh Worse Than Disney". Fatherly. 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ Lacey, Kellie (2022-01-03). "Ryan Reynolds Takes Advantage of Winnie-the-Pooh's Public Domain Status for Mint Mobile Ad". CBR. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
- ^ Cavna, Michael (2022-01-12). "'Winnie-the-Pooh' just entered the public domain. Here's what that means for fans". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ Weisholtz, Drew (2022-01-03). "Ryan Reynolds' 'Winnie-the-Screwed' ad nails struggles of expensive phone bills". Today. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ Burlingame, Ross. "Ryan Reynolds Debuts Winnie-the-Screwed After Public Domain Day". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.