We all need something to look forward to. Especially now. Even as some states start reopening at reduced capacity, there are plenty of cities that are still on total lockdown. And let me tell you, when your city is on total lockdown and you discover that there is a Star Wars Cantina-themed bar within walking distance of your home, time starts moving very, very slowly.

 

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Have you ever danced with a droid in the pale cantina light? . . #scumandvillainycantina #scifisafehouse

A post shared by Scum & Villainy Cantina (@scumandvillainycantina) on Jun 29, 2017 at 8:12pm PDT

This LA establishment is called Scum and Villainy Cantina (of course) and it is a self-proclaimed “friendly neighborhood geek bar.” Before you start having kittens because you clicked on the website and saw a guy gesturing at you to ‘live long and prosper,’ know that this bar caters to all geeks, not just the Star Wars variety. That’s right, this is a place where Trekkies, Star Wars fans, Battlestar Galactica fans, and every fan of niche nerdom can come together and live (and drink) in harmony. Vulkans can rub shoulders with Jawas and Cylons can shoot pool with Dr. Who. You are encouraged to dress up and they even host geek-themed tournaments for a variety of properties:

 

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Which house will win our first ever Triwizard Tournament tonight? Tell us below! . Doors open at 5pm. Every participant will receive a challenger ribbon upon entry (while supplies last). ✨ First of three tasks will start at 7pm. Wearing your house colors or robes is strongly encouraged! . Houses meet your Head Girls! Gryffindor: @onlyalicat Hufflepuff: @thatjessiwills Ravenclaw: @thatprincessgirl Slytherin: @uncoolrockstar . . . #internationaldayoffriendship #scumandvillainycantina #nerdlife #hogwarts #slytherinpride #gryffindorpride #ravenclawpride #hufflepuffpride #cosplaylife #wizardingworld #triwizardtournament #geekbar

A post shared by Scum & Villainy Cantina (@scumandvillainycantina) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:34am PDT

Some of their cocktails include The Mind Trick, Gold Bourbonkini, The Starbuck, Witness Me, Furiosa, I Aim to Misbehave, and the Dumbledore Special. Wondering what blue milk tasks like? This place has got you covered—and they’re even doing curbside pickup for those of us who can’t wait until the quarantine is over:

 

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🔸DETAILS FOR CURBSIDE COCKTAILS🔸 ⏩⏩Swipe for all the info regarding ordering your Wretched Blue Milk Snack Pack on #maythefourth! . . ⏰Monday May 4th: 2pm to 10pm See you there! #scumandvillainycantina #yourfriendlyneighborhoodgeekbar #bluemilk

A post shared by Scum & Villainy Cantina (@scumandvillainycantina) on May 2, 2020 at 9:46pm PDT

Just listen to how they describe themselves on their website:

Scum and Villainy Cantina is an intergalactic bar nestled deep within the wretched hive of Hollywood, CA. Inspired by the best drinking establishments from your favorite sci-fi and fantasy movies, Scum and Villainy is the geek bar you’ve been looking for.

Costumed bartenders join in the debate while mixing cocktails from a themed menu. Our laid-back atmosphere and strict “no bullying” mission creates a #ScifiSafeHouse not just for casual and mega-fans alike, but for anyone looking for a change of pace from the typical bar scene. Flying solo? Searching for your tribe? We definitely serve your kind here!

I will wait for you Scum and Villainy Cantina. I will wait for you as long as it takes.

Ingenuity is bred largely from necessity. Thomas Edison needed a light. The Wright Brothers were really late for something. Alexander Graham Bell feared his tone was being misinterpreted over the telegraph.

And then, other times, genius just sort of happens for no discernible reason.

“It was a nice day and I was pretty drunk and just knocked it all together.”

That’s Dave Tonks, the 53-year-old pest control technician who, with his partner Lisa, cobbled together this astounding Jack Daniels whiskey fountain. This staggering beauty is composed mostly of things they found lying around the garden, minus the liquor bottles, which Dave had been saving to repurpose as candles.

“It was my partner’s idea to make a water feature out of them,” Dave said in an interview with LAD Bible. “She did most of the design, to be fair.

Now, before you get up under there like some eager baby bird or unruly teenager sampling Slurpee flavors, it should be noted the “whiskey” here is merely really weak coffee. “I would love to try it with real JD and Coke, but it would cost a fortune,” Dave sighed.

You can watch the spirit fountain in action, in all its smoke-machiney, LED-lit goodness, right here:

As more and more places shutter their doors, some businesses are shifting production while others are shifting gears. One restaurant, the Bovine & Barley in downtown Houston, has taken to the streets in a grownup ice cream truck of sorts, delivering frozen cocktails right to their customers’ doorsteps.

The badass employees of this bar are masked up and fully equipped to assist folks from Midtown to The Heights in making the most of the gorgeous Texas springtime.

Whether you’re in the mood for a margarita, Moscow mule, daiquiri, mojito, michelada, or maybe just a good ol’ fashion pina colada, Bovine & Barley’s got the cure for what ails ya.

You can even score chips for just a buck.

Sadly, Bovine & Barley can only deliver to the good people of Houston, so it’s on us to safely circulate petitions within our respective communities that demand Frozen Cocktail Trucks become a thing of normalcy when we all get through this. Call your city councilperson.

Click here to follow Bovine & Barley on Facebook. Cheers, Houston!

Well, now there’s a UNO drinking game. You just shuddered, didn’t you? You heard “UNO drinking game” and your brain went right to the Wild Draw Four card and you shuddered. Yes. It’s as brutal as you think.

The good folks at Spriinkle Me Piink have taken the classic card game — a game rooted in alliance, betrayal, rage, and sadism — and added booze.

The rules are as follows:

DRAW TWO: Take one shot. No biggie.

DRAW FOUR: Take two shots and thank your lucky stars it wasn’t four.

REVERSE: Whoever gets reversed takes two shots. We’re not sure if “gets reversed” here means the person who didn’t get to go or the person you reverse it back to. Either way, someone’s calling you a dick.

SKIP: The person who gets skipped takes a shot.

FALSE UNO: This is when someone has one card left but forgets to say “UNO.” It’s an honest mistake and we’ve all been there. No sweat. Just be more mindful next time. Just kidding, that’s three fucking shots.

The set, currently $26.12 on the Spriinkle Me Piink Etsy store, comes with a box of UNO cards, one laminated rule card, six UNO shot glasses, and custom Drunk Uno carrying case personalized with your name.

We know some of you are thinking, wait a minute! In UNO, if Player 1 throws a Draw Four, and Player 2 throws a Draw Four on top of it, Player 3 then has to draw eight cards. Will Player 3 have to take four shots? What if Player 3 has a third Draw Four card? Does Player 4 then take six shots? I’m not taking six shots.

And to those people we say hey: those cards say wild for a reason.

Who doesn’t love a good game of Jenga? Extracting wooden blocks with the deliberation of an engineer and the hands of a surgeon, moving said blocks to the top of an increasingly rickety structure, and howling like lunatics when the tower inevitably topples over. Everyone emerges the victor, save for one loser tasked with cleaning up the mess they alone made.

It’s a sport of kings.

The only thing that could make it more fun?

Booze.

We’re all familiar with Drunk Jenga, aka Tipsy Tower, a variation that incorporates time-tested drinking game rules. Each block pulled is inscribed with a command, rule, or mini-game. Take shots, give shots, rhyming challenges, things of that nature.

Yeah yeah, we know. It’s been done.

But!

What if we told you someone has integrated Jenga with booze by literally integrating Jenga with booze? Introducing Little Tipsy Jello Shot Towers.

Built and sold by the Etsy store Stone Point Woodwork, the Little Tipsy Jello Shot Tower is exactly what it sounds like. It’s way bigger than your standard-issue Jenga stack, standing at a colossal 27 inches. This is because hidden throughout the 54 blocks are 25 holes in which you can comfortably nestle 25 Jello shots.

Literal game changer.

“Fifteen of the blocks in this tower contains single holes for Jello shots and five of the blocks contain double holes,” reads their Etsy page. “Pull the block with the shot/shots and you take them or share with a friend!”

This update of the Hasbro classic looks like a rollicking good time, and the inclusion of alcohol should pose no safety issues as long as you don’t keep adding to a really high Jenga. Speaking of which, nobody invent High Jenga.

Good news is always welcome, and never more so during tough times. A global pandemic definitely qualifies, and thankfully, despite the fear and panic and uncertainty, we’ve had no shortage of good news over these past few weeks. Movie studios are stepping up to give us new content sooner, celebrities are making questionable music videos and Twitter is mocking them, and athletes are doing their best to protect the arena employees and team staff who don’t have six and seven-figure bank accounts.

Today we get another positive bit of news from a famous actor who really seems like a fun hang and a good guy. His name is Ryan Reynolds, and when he’s not playing Deadpool and cracking jokes on Instagram or donating $1 million to food banks – he’s running a gin company that’s making a name for itself both for its product and its marketing.

Whoever is running things back there, whether it’s Reynolds or somebody else, knows how to do things. Their Peloton rebuttal was clever and subtle, and their recent Leap Day ad was hilarious. And now they’re getting their name out there in the service of a good cause: helping protect bartenders who are losing income during the Coronavirus.

“Until May 1st, for every bottle of Aviation ordered online, we’ll donate 30% of proceeds as a tip to your bartenders – who REALLY miss you btw. Visit http://AviationGin.com/delivered #TipYourBartenders #StayHomeSaveLives,” Reynolds wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Until May 1st, for every bottle of Aviation ordered online, we’ll donate 30% of proceeds as a tip to your bartenders – who REALLY miss you btw. Visit https://t.co/elT2zrCgE0 #TipYourBartenders #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/77tVacDGBM

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 24, 2020

Bartenders among the many service professionals who have lost income due to the shutdown, and being that those people are responsible for serving Reynold’s gin more often than not, it makes sense that his company would support them. It’s also a savvy business movie, sure to endear Aviation Gin to bartenders everywhere who benefit from the contributions the brand is making.

The Aviation Gin website also states that they’ve already kickstarted things by starting a tab and putting in $15,000 already.

“We’re available at home – where we hope you are right now – but your bartenders miss you. So we’ve started a tab by donating $15K to the United States Bartender’s Guild and will be adding an additional 30% tip for every bottle delivered through May 1st.”

Of course, Reynolds has a personal reason to help bartenders, as he shared in another tweet after news began to spread.

In fairness, I wouldn’t be the father I am today without bartenders. @AviationGin https://t.co/OzyV3PAfvF

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 25, 2020

Amen to that.

Keeping your hands clean has never been a bigger national imperative than it is now. It can be even more difficult with kids, as they enjoy vigorously protesting whatever hygiene rules you throw at them. Hand sanitizer is always great in a pinch, a few squirts are an acceptable substitute. Problem is, you can’t get it anywhere.

Hand sanitizer has gone the way of toilet paper and paper towels, vanished into the wind, relegated to rumors and hushed whispers at grocery stores. It’s even become a prize at some arcades. But some distilleries have decided to fill that void with the product they know best: alcohol. Distilleries across the country have started creating their own hand sanitizer, using alcohol and a few other cheap, easy-to-access ingredients.

A distillery in Atlanta was among the first, creating and bottling their own hand sanitizer, which they gave away for free to people in the community. They made it with aloe vera gel and 95 percent ethanol.

 

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Thank you to the community for its overwhelming support! Because of the large turnout we received, we are currently out of hand sanitizer at the moment. We are waiting on a shipment of ingredients to arrive Monday, at which time we will resume production. We will be making a post next week to keep you updated once we have more available. Thank you for your understanding and we’ll see you next week! If you would like to donate to help us make more for our community (not necessary at all) we now have a link in our bio available.

A post shared by Old Fourth Distillery (@oldfourthdistillery) on Mar 13, 2020 at 3:37pm PDT

Shine Distillery in Portland is doing the same thing. They started using waste alcohol from making spirits and using it to create hand sanitizer for the community. The owner talked with local authorities and found out they could distribute it as long as it was free. They also curated a great list of songs/lyrics you can sing to fill out the time required for a thorough handwash.

Shine Distillery in N. Portland is now bottling hand sanitizer to give to customers. The owner said they already used the concoction to clean around the place anyway! It’s made from a byproduct of the alcohol they bottle. 80% alcohol, xanthan gum, and a little water. pic.twitter.com/OnGuBIs0WM

— Audrey Weil (@audreytweil) March 10, 2020

“Ultimately, I’m part of the community, I want my friends and neighbors to be happy and healthy,” he told a local news outlet. “All my neighbors getting sick and going down doesn’t do me any good. I want to be in a healthy community, and it feels good to be able to give back.”

Other distilleries across the country are coming to the rescue, whether it’s by donating sanitizer to shelters or making it readily available to the community. Hopefully, it’s a trend that continues to spread, as people realize that distilleries are here for us in hard times in more ways than one.

“We are in a national emergency,” said brewery founder Chad Butters. “What’s the right thing to do? The right thing to do is support this community by providing something that is in desperate need. We’ll flood the valley with hand sanitizer and drive that price right down.”

Here at The Dad, we hope you, your families, and communities stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest information, please utilize online resources from local public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization to remain as informed as possible.

Starting their own liquor brands is a hot new thing for celebrities to do. George Clooney has his Casamigos Tequila, Sammy Hagar was way ahead of the curve with his Caba Wabo label, and Ryan Reynolds recently joined the fray with Aviation Gin. I haven’t had his gin yet, but if it’s anywhere near as good as the marketing, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

Earlier this year, Reynolds and Aviation Gin took advantage of the Peloton Christmas commercial controversy by enlisting the star of that ad for a commercial of their own. The Aviation ad focused on the aftermath of the cycling machine commercial, in which a wife received a – depending on your opinion – insulting gift and then took solace in her friends, and her martini. It was a clever way to insert Aviation into a conversation that was already happening.

Now Reynolds and company are back with another clever ad, this one coinciding with Leap Day, which passed over the weekend. February 29th only happens once every four years, leaving those born on that day with a rare birth date. The new ad features one such Leap Day, aka ‘leapling’, birthday girl, focusing on the fact that despite being around for 84 years, she’s technically only had 21 birthdays.

And she wants her first legal drink to be Reynolds’ Aviation Gin.

Check out the ad – and stay tuned for the closing punchline:

The new year is a time for change. The changing of the calendar offers many people a new start, and an opportunity to use resolutions as motivation to change your life and improve some things. It’s why many people decide to abstain from alcohol for the month of January; what better time to start than the beginning of the year?

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to change your lifestyle and to break bad habits. For some of us, it’s downright impossible. For one man in particularly, going dry is simply not an option. And you won’t believe why.

A 46-year-old man who rarely drinks alcohol nevertheless finds himself in a case of frequent drunkenness, thanks to a rare condition. It’s called auto-brewery syndrome, and for years it lead his friends and family to suspect he was a secret drunk, despite his protestations otherwise. He was clumsy, suffered from brain fog, and even got pulled over for suspicion of DWI. But it was all because of his disease, according to NBC News.

His seemingly drunken state was the result of auto-brewery sydrome, a rare condition in which his body turns carbohydrates into alcohol. So whenever he ate bread, or pizza, or drank soda, fermenting bacteria in his gut turn the sugar into ethanol, leading to “extreme blood alcohol levels.”

A man who said he never drank alcohol but often appeared drunk actually had a rare condition called auto-brewery syndrome, in which his gut began producing alcohol whenever he ate carbohydrates, a new case study says. https://t.co/Dk4aD9zIkD pic.twitter.com/DOy6WVACBN

— WebMD (@WebMD) February 6, 2020

For the 46-year-old, it all started in 2011 after he took antibiotics for a thumb injury, causing the aforementioned fermenting bacteria to grow unchecked in his stomach. Suddenly his behavior began to change, and his friends and family, even his doctors and the occasional policeman began to suspect he was a closet alcoholic.

“He was unable to function and it was mainly after meals,” Dr. Fahad Malik, told TODAY about the case. “No one believed him.” Dr. Fahad wrote in the case report of the patient’s struggles to convince people that he wasn’t drinking: “The hospital personnel and police refused to believe him when he repeatedly denied alcohol ingestion.”

So while always being drunk sounds fun – not needing to buy beer with your pepperoni pie is certainly cheaper – it’s easy to imagine how severely it can impair one’s ability to live a normal life. How do you work if every time you have a donut with your morning coffee you get buzzed?

Eventually, doctors were able to monitor the patient and confirm the condition, finally putting him on probiotics to get his gut back to normal. A year later, his symptoms were gone, and he could once again enjoy pizza without getting punchy.

The Super Bowl was on Sunday, and, because our country can’t get itself together and make the day after a national holiday, we all had to go to work on Monday. For some football fans, perhaps most likely those in San Francisco and Kansas City, much alcohol was imbibed during the contest in order to enjoy, survive, and ultimately forget, and/or celebrate the results of the big game.

It could not have been particularly easy to drag themselves out of bed and into the office the morning after the big game, let alone actually sit at a desk and focus on work for the day.

It’s a shame we don’t live in Germany, where, on Monday, a court ruled that hangovers are a legitimate illness. Finally!

The ruling was actually part of a case against a company selling a purported “hangover cure” in the form of shots and a powdered drinking solution. The judge found that the company had made illegal claims about what their product was capable of, and stated, “food product cannot ascribe any properties for preventing, treating or healing a human illness, or give the impression of such a property.”

Did you catch that? “A human illness.” That’s how he described a hangover.

DW, a German news site, details the judge’s remarks. He followed that statement with a definition of human illness: “even small or temporary disruptions to the normal state or normal activity of the body,” stating that those “disruptions” included the symptoms you might feel after drinking all the Bud Light because you can’t believe Kyle Shanahan stopped running the ball. Headaches, nausea, etc.

So next year, if your team makes the Super Bowl and you over-indulge, you have a legitimate medical reason to call in sick to work the next day: you actually are sick! At least according to German law. Hopefully, by the time next February comes around, we’ll have adapted that law ourselves.

And then we’ll move on to getting the courts to validate the Man Flu!

It’s Baby Yoda’s world now, we just live in it. When it comes to all-encompassing internet trends, we at least are far better off with Baby Yoda than we were with Baby Shark, which really pushed the boundaries for “annoying.” Baby Yoda, the breakout star from “The Mandalorian” on Disney+, has been in memes, toys, videos and more.

And what makes it at least somewhat fun is the personal touch everyone is leaving on the Baby Yoda craze. From popping up in street art, to the people that went to the lengths of decapitating angels to make Baby Yoda cookies, people are taking Baby Yoda and putting their own spin on it. Which is why this latest twist is enjoyable.

Baby Yoda is now a cocktail. They are popping up at bars all over the country. A bar in Nebraska was one of the first to make a Baby Yoda cocktail, including different types of rum and cherries for the eyes.

 

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Introducing our BB Yoda cocktail!!! Featuring Baiju, Midori, Pineapple Juice, Lime Juice, and Coconut Cream. Come sample this and feel your midi-chlorian counts rise!!! 🟢⚫️🟢⚫️🟢 #starwars #babyyoda #babyyodaiq #thechild #mandalorian #cocktail #tiki #tikicocktails #omaha #lakalonorumclub #lakalono

A post shared by Laka Lono Rum Club (@lakalono) on Dec 15, 2019 at 4:12pm PST

OK, you’re gonna just have to go with us on this. The key to making these really look like Baby Yoda is to drink a lot of them. The more you consume, the more Yoda-like they become.

If gin is more your style, a bar in Minnesota ran one out, again using the cherries for eyes, limes for ear playbook. And again, we can sort of see the logic behind it. The important thing is, all trends are better in alcohol form, so this movement should be encouraged and supported.

 

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We’ve reached peak internet over here at the Sheridan Room with our #babyyoda gimlet.

A post shared by The Sheridan Room (@thesheridanroom) on Dec 19, 2019 at 2:29pm PST

There is no better cocktail to ring in 2020 than a Baby Yoda inspired drink. Consuming a healthy amount of alcohol along with embracing the hottest internet meme in the game is a fitting end to a Star Wars heavy year.

 

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Love this cocktail, you will. The Matcha-lorian Baby Yoda Cocktail is a sweet tipple that also packs a spicy punch, just like the real #babyyoda. Want to mix one up yourself? This is the way. LINK IN BIO⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #themandalorian #thisistheway #theforce #starwars #maytheforcebewithyou #yoda #theriseofskywalker #mandalorian #babyyodacocktail #cocktailgram #cocktailsathome #cocktailstyle #cocktailtime #craftedmixology #drinkitup #drinksonus #libations #mixeddrinks #mixologists #cocktails #cocktailsofinstagram #craftcocktails #mixologist

A post shared by KegWorks – Tools for Drinking (@kegworks) on Dec 20, 2019 at 3:30pm PST

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Happy #RiseOfSkywalker release day from Baby Yoda the cocktail! Inspired by @barstoolsports and created by our team member, Ashlee. ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #babyyoda #thechild #babyyodacocktail #themandolorean #starwars #starwarscocktail #cocktails #pdxbars #explorepdx #pdx #pdxrestaurants

A post shared by Le Bistro Montage (@lebistromontage) on Dec 20, 2019 at 8:54am PST

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I know nothing about Yoda, Baby Yoda and/or Star Wars – saw the first movie back in 1977 and decided it was not for me. But I could not resist trying my hand at the Baby Yoda drinks I have been seeing. Mine is a Yoda my friend @eydsdatter who knows her Star Wars stuff tells me, as it has a lightsaber. I started by mixing: 9 cl gin – I used my bergamotte infused Beefeater 9 cl fresh pineapple juice 3 cl fresh lime juice 3 cl orgeat Then I poured 3 cl whole organic milk in a small pitcher and added the drinks mix. After 30 minutes I poured it through a fine mesh strainer lined with a clean cotton napkin. After 1 hour my patience was gone and I secured 12 cl of the amount that had dripped through and poured it into a shaker and added 2 cl green Chartreuse. I gave it a quick shake with ice and strained it into my glass already kitted out with a wash cloth coat and a breadstick turned into a lightsaber. Then just a quick ear and eye garnish and Yoda is your uncle. Should I ever make it again I would substitute lime/bergamotte cordial for the orgeat. Orgeat and green Chartreuse is not a match made in galaxy far, far away. Or maybe it is but it does not taste very good. Also I poured the rest of the mix through for a second strain and it looks very clear. Had I been more patient my Yoda could have been quite clear. #cocktailgarnish #yodacocktail #cocktails #babyyodacocktail

A post shared by Andrea (@theginhound) on Dec 29, 2019 at 8:13am PST

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Yup, that's a Baby Yoda cocktail.⁠ ⁠ When a customer asked one Lux Central bartender to make a cocktail inspired by the Star Wars character, he had no idea he'd happened to stumble upon the perfect man for the job.⁠ ⁠ Bartender Sammy Black started working at the uptown coffee shop and bar 15 years ago. He's been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember.⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in bio for everything you need to know about the wildly adorable cocktail.⁠ ⁠ (📷 by Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic)⁠ ⁠ #phx #cenpho #luxcentral #babyyoda #phxfoodculture #phxdrinks #azcdrinks #cocktailgram #drinkstagram #starwars #babyyodacocktail #foodstagram #arizonagram #phoenixaz #phxaz #phoenixarizona #thechild #disney #cocktailsofinstagram #starwarsnerd #starwarsislife #mandalorian #themandalorian #disneyplus #disneylife #disneyinsta #disneygram #drinksdrinksdrinks #drinksofinstagram #lux

A post shared by azcthingstodo (@azcthingstodo) on Dec 20, 2019 at 2:01pm PST

A few weeks ago, a company that makes high-end exercise bikes found itself embroiled in controversy after the internet didn’t take to kindly to one of their ads. The ad in question was for Peloton and featured a thin, seemingly (at least superficially) healthy woman receiving the $2000 bike for Christmas and then documenting her wellness journey in a series of social media video posts, was seen by some as misogynistic and promoting unhealthy standards.

Not everyone agreed that there was anything wrong with the ad – many praised the husband for buying his wife such an expensive gift – but enough people did that there were rumors that Peloton’s stock price dropped as a result of the backlash and the company pulled the commercial. No sooner had the controversy erupted than Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation Gin snagged the Peloton Wife for a commercial of their own, poking for at the original ad and playing into the perception that the woman was perturbed by the gift and looking for a way out of her oppressive home.

It was a brilliant gambit by the company, and it shifted the conversation from exercise to drinking, which is a lot more fun! Last week, the Today Show brought both Reynolds and the actress from both commercials on the air for an interview. It’s safe to say the Peloton Wife wasn’t looking to escape from that situation, not while seated next to the Deadpool actor and hilarious dad.

The actress, Monica Ruiz, told TODAY that she figured her face was the cause of it all, with her expressive eyes leading viewers to be believe she was an abused wife crying for help.

“My eyebrows looked worried I guess. People were like, ‘You look scared.’ I’m telling you, it was my face, that was the problem, and it just exploded it from there. She looks worried.”

Reynolds explained how he got the idea to recruit Ruiz for his company.

“It started with a text to my creative partner,” Reynolds told Hoda Kotb. “He sent me the ad and I go, ‘Oh, wow, I see why there’s some backlash. Can we send her a year’s supply of gin?’ And that sort of evolved from there. We love acknowledging and playing off of the cultural landscape and we thought this was a grand opportunity to do something.”

He said the vagueness of the ad was intentional, as they were just having fun and not looking to stoke conflict.

“We had this thought that we could do this ad without contributing to that divide, without vilifying anybody, just sort of commenting on this person, and the actress and the ad all at once. For us it was a no brainer,” he said.

Watch the entire interview:

Monica Ruiz was asked to be in a commercial for @VancityReynolds’ gin company after the Peloton commercial she starred in went viral, and she had never met Ryan … until today! pic.twitter.com/pkq6Go3alM

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 12, 2019

Whether you have a problem with that Peloton ad or not, you’ve surely seen it. You know the one, where the wife gets a $2000 bike on Christmas morning and proceeds to document her fitness journey over the course of the next year? It’s making a lot of noise around the internets.

We wrote about it, and made some jokes about the husband giving a potentially insulting gift to his wife, and about the wife being trapped in a relationship where she’s forced to exercise until she’s pleased her man, and speculated about the backlash the company received. Which may or may not include a drop in their stock price.

Regardless of how you feel about the ad, two things are for sure: it got people talking, and the Peloton wife has some expressive eyes and eyebrows.

So expressive that you can probably recognize her in this new ad, from Ryan Reynolds’ gin company. The ad, which never mentions Peloton or anything of the sort, completely hinges on the recognizability of the woman and the awareness of the controversy surrounding that commercial.

The Aviation Gin spot features the woman from the Peloton ad sitting at a bar, clearly shell-shocked by her experience, staring into space and saying “This gin is really smooth,” while flanked by two friends who are reassuring her that she’s in a safe place before the three of them clink glasses and say, “To new beginnings!”

The implication, which is obvious to anyone who has seen or is aware of the Peloton ad, is that she’s escaped her marriage, in which her husband gave her an expensive Peloton bike to encourage her to lose some weight.

The actress also released a statement through her agency, LA Talent:

I was happy to accept a job opportunity earlier this year from Peloton and the team was lovely to work with. Although I’m an actress, I am not quite comfortable being in spotlight and I’m terrible on social media. So to say I was shocked and overwhelmed by the attention this week (especially the negative) is an understatement.

When Ryan and his production team called about Aviation Gin, they helped me find some humor in the situation. I am grateful to both Peloton and now Aviation Gin for the work and giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do.

It’s a clever move, and had to have been a fast one too, securing the actress and filming the spot within a few days of the controversy exploding. Kudos to funny guy and good dad Ryan Reynolds, or at least on the creative minds at Aviation Gin who came up with this idea and made it happen.

I can’t wait for the next 15 entries in the Peloton Extended Commercial Universe! Who needs Thanos when we have her evil husband!