Hollywood is up in arms as the AI actress Tilly Norwood is making headlines. Yes, you read that right: AI. “She” doesn’t actually exist. “She,” or rather it, has attracted the attention of Hollywood agents, even booked gigs already. She’s not human, but she sure poses a threat to real human actors. Ryan Reynolds has cleverly decided to make light of this, and capitalize on the situation, through his new Mint Mobile campaign.
To celebrate the launch of his MINTernet affordable home internet service, Reynolds hired Tilly Norwood as a spokesperson. But not the AI Tilly Norwood, an actual Mint Mobile customer named Natalie “Tilly” Norwood. The idea? Show that there’s nothing fake about his plans and the value they provide. It’s all real savings, real value, The plan is US$30/mo. for the first three months if you have a Mint Mobile plan or US$40/mo., for those who are interested. You can lock in the rate after that if you renew on a 12-month plan with an upfront payment or renew another three-month plan for $10 more per month, with an upfront payment. The system is plug-and-play, easy to set up in about 15 minutes. There are no monthly equipment fees and there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee.
It’s powered by T-Mobile’s 5G network, and Mint Mobile still isn’t available in Canada. But this ad was far too on-the-money not to discuss.
To put their money where their mouth is, Maximum Effort, Reynolds’ advertising and production company behind the campaign, told Variety that no AI at all was used in the making of the commercial. Yes, this means even the rapid-fire voice rhyming off the fine print at the end is that of a real woman, a real person who was (gulp) paid to do real work.
The company really brings its messaging home by noting that Mint customers get “the real deal” and “not AI-generated promises.” The statement is one of many that others in Hollywood have been making, including Amy Poehler’s scathing Saturday Night Live monologue about Norwood (the AI actress, not the real person in the Mint commercial) and “her” perceived threat. “To that little AI robot watching TV right now who wants to be on this stage someday,” she said, “I say to you, ‘Beep boop beep boop.’ Which translates to, ‘You’ll never be able to write a joke, you stupid robot.’”
Really, it all boils down to, how did we get here, to a time when a woman who literally doesn’t exist threatens the jobs of talented actors who have spent years, decades even, honing their crafts? Are any jobs sacred, valued anymore? It might not seem so threatening when the AI “person” is “just” entertaining you as you lounge on the couch in front of the TV on a Friday night. But it won’t be so amusing when they’re performing your cataracts surgery. At least when it comes to Mint, the company, along with Reynolds’ sarcastic sense of humor, found a perfectly subtle yet brilliant way to poke fun at the situation, and use it to toot its own horn, of course. AI might use internet service, but it can’t provide it. Yet. So at least Mint Mobile is safe. For now.