Ryan Reynolds Gets Addicted in Absurd Mobile Gaming Ads

Mobile phone games. They seem so innocuous: a fun way to kill time as you wait for the bus to arrive.

But very soon, they've got you in the iron grip of addiction. 'Just five more minutes,' you think to yourself. 'Just one more level.' And then before you know it, you've fashioned yourself a pair of fake arms to perform those non-vital actions like picking up food and conveying it to your mouth - all so your real hands can continue playing the game.

This is the dark but comic premise behind a new nine-spot campaign created by TBWAChiatDay LA for Peak Games, the manufacturer behind popular mobile game Toon Blast.

Directed by Tom Kuntz, the films feature Ryan Reynolds, doing his Deadpool-inspired schtick as a gaming addict whose obsession with Toon Blast is taking over his life in increasingly absurd ways. 

Setting the scene with PSA [top] in which a despondent Reynolds chronicles his descent into addiction ("At first I just dabbled with it, like everyone else in Hollywood. But then things really spiralled out of control. Next thing I knew, I was doing it 24/7,") the campaign expands into increasingly absurd examples of how it's affected his career, like passing on his acting responsibilities to a less-than-convincing body double, and playing the game behind a co-star's back during an emotional scene.

Body Double 

Romantic

In a statement, Peak Games says this celebrity-driven campaign was designed specifically for performance marketing purposes. Its plan is to create a celebrity/brand partnership with many different perspectives and creatives that allows the advertisers to calculate the effectiveness of each video through deep analytical knowledge.  

Tattoo 

Girl 

Criminal 

Tiny Hands 

Clock