How Ryan Reynolds' Social Media Posts Helped This Motorcycle Company Achieve Next Level Popularity
In our ever-evolving social media landscape, celebrities who can leverage millions of followers have become essential marketing tools for brands and products worldwide. This is true in almost every industry, but it makes a big difference for emerging brands with smaller potential customer pools, like electric vehicles.
In the best cases, these posts aren't even paid endorsements — just a person who really enjoys a product or service. One such example is when Ryan Reynolds shared his experiences with a custom-made electric motorcycle called an Arc Vector. This caused the relatively unknown EV motorcycle brand Arc Vehicles to explode in popularity.
Though probably known best for his roles in "Deadpool" and a multitude of other TV shows and movies spanning back to the 1990s, Ryan Reynolds is a motorcycle enthusiast, and his opinion matters a lot more than others when it comes to bikes. In addition to Reynolds being a known luxury vehicle owner and motorcycle lover, he was also a partial owner of Mint Mobile, which sold to T-Mobile in 2023 for $1.35 billion.
Ryan Reynolds's free advertising increased Arc's engagement by around 1,200%
According to the BBC, Ryan Reynolds shared a post in his Instagram Stories about his excitement for his new custom-made Arc Vector motorcycle. This was broadcast to his 50 million Instagram followers, sparking an almost immediate uptick in interest in Arc's motorcycles. These Instagram posts would garner a huge increase in interest in the brand, with an increase in engagement of around 1,200%, according to Arc's CEO Mark Trument.
The reporting goes on to detail Reyond's custom Arc Vector, which apparently used flax (the hemp-like material) throughout the bike's design. Though it would seem like a sponsorship or endorsement, the reporting says that Reyolds has "no stake or connection" to the company.
However, this isn't the first time Reynolds has gushed about his love for motorcycles. In a 2016 interview with Ryan Rowland about a custom Kott Motorcycle collaboration, Reynolds explains that he purchased his first bike when he was only 15 years old. That motorcycle would be the Honda CB750, an affordable classic sport bike that was first sold in the U.S. in 1969. He went on to explain his love for motorcycles and the open road.
What are Arc motorcycles?
Arc Vehicle, the company that designed and created the Arc Vector Motorcycle (not to be confused with Keanu Reeve's Arch Motorcycles), is an electric motorcycle brand founded in Coventry, England, in 2017. CEO Mark Truman, an ex-executive from Jaguar Land Rover, heads the company, which touts its innovative electric motorcycles as some of the most advanced in the world and is most known for its futuristic carbon-composite structure and sleek design.
Originally unveiled at the Milan EICMA Motorcycle show in Italy in 2018, the Arc Vector is also one of the most expensive bikes in the world, costing an eye-watering £100,000 and £150,000, putting it on the premium luxury end of the motorcycle spectrum. One of the bike's biggest selling points is its human-machine interface or HMI, which includes a smart, high-tech helmet and matching riding gear. Dubbed the Arc Zenith helmet, the special gear includes a heads-up display that enables the rider to see travel data and the positioning and speed of other cars.
The latest Arc Vector motorcycles can reach speeds of up to around 124 miles per hour and can go 0–62 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, with an approximate range of 270 miles on one charge. That said, the custom experience and the other advanced tech likely make this bike worthwhile for celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, as competing EV motorcycle brands, like Harley Davidson's Zero SR/S, can reach speeds and ranges similar to the latest Vector at nearly one-fifth the cost.