Ryan Reynolds’ Latest Business Bet? Boxed Wine, With Dogpool as Its Spokesdog

Ryan Reynolds is getting into the wine business, with his Maximum Effort partnering with the wine giant Gallo to launch a new boxed wine brand called “Ugly Estates.”

The wine is launching in Texas, and is debuting its marketing campaign Thursday, with Peggy the Hairless Pug starring as its spokesdog. Peggy, of course, portrayed “Dogpool” in last year’s Marvel blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine.

Ugly Estates is meant to be a more casual wine (the tagline is “33% more wine, 100% less snob”), without the trappings of glass bottles, corkscrews or even famous spokespeople (Reynolds is letting Dogpool handle that).

“Ugly Estates is all about rewriting the rules of wine. Gallo and Maximum Effort have tossed out the old standards, swapping the pretentious bottle for something much more approachable—Ugly Estates is premium California wine in a 1L Tetra Pak,” Maximum Effort said in announcing the product. “That’s 33% more wine than a standard bottle, with absolutely zero of the unnecessary attitude.”

Reynolds and his Maximum Effort company are no stranger to business ventures outside of Hollywood and advertising. In fact, Reynolds is no stranger to the alcohol business, having helped launch Aviation Gin, which was sold to Diageo in 2020. Reynolds also launched Mint Mobile, which sold to T-Mobile in 2023 in a $1.3 billion deal, and he and friend Rob McElhenny own the Welsh football club Wrexham F.C., which is featured in the FX series Welcome to Wrexham.

Last month Reynolds and his Maximum Effort co-founder George Dewey bought back the marketing side of the business from MNTN, which had previously acquired it in 2021.

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