It ends with a statement. (Please get that joke, readers.)
After MNTN revealed in its S-1 filing that it is selling Maximum Effort—the Ryan Reynolds-owned marketing agency it acquired in 2021—back to its “original owner,” the agency is now responding in a statement to The Drum to clarify what, exactly, is going on.
Here’s what a Maximum Effort spokesperson said:
“Four years ago, when Maximum Effort Marketing became a part of Mntn, we along with Mntn always contemplated a day when our marketing arm would rejoin Maximum Effort Productions as an independent entity. The original agreements were drafted specifically with this in mind because it’s important for us to maintain our creative freedom. So while we’re structurally going forward as separate entities, the reality is Mntn and Maximum Effort have grown together and will continue our amazing creative partnership. We will remain in lock step with Ryan Reynolds maintaining his role as chief creative officer at Mntn.”
So, it looks like Reynolds remains. But what happened here, really?
Marketecture’s Ari Paparo weighed in, “translating” the corporate speak and noting that what it really says is:
“1) When we acquired the agency, AI was not yet capable of making good video creative; 2) Reynolds’ options have not yet vested; 3) The rest of the team doesn’t want to stay.”
He added:
“Also, from the S-1 they state that the contingent liabilities resulting from the Maximum Effort acquisition were marked to zero as of 12/31/24. I interpret this as meaning they had an earn-out that was not earned.”
Why This Matters:
MNTN filed for its IPO just a week ago, so clarifying the status of its high-profile Chief Creative Officer was a necessary step. Reynolds is also caught up in a punishing legal and PR dispute involving his wife, Blake Lively, and Justin Baldoni. The Drum raised the question of whether that drama played a role in this decision, but since Reynolds is staying on at MNTN, it seems the relationship remains intact—at least for now.
From our perspective, Maximum Effort never made much sense as an owned entity within MNTN, especially as the company prepares to go public. First, it’s called Maximum Effort. Yes, we know, that doesn’t matter, but it’s a break from MNTN’s positioning as an easy-to-use performance CTV platform for SMBs and midmarket advertisers. Plus, MNTN wants to position itself as a CTV adtech platform, not a marketing agency, and having that clarity for would-be investors and shareholders is key.
Experts React:
Here are Ari’s posts from X, in full:
Our Take:
We never thought we would write a post that mentions Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni. (We have mentioned Ryan Reynolds and MNTN before.) But, here we are. Hm, how do we fit Taylor Swift into this somehow?
Anyway, congrats to the MNTN team on the coming IPO.
