There’s real power in a celebrity endorsement. It’s why brands have been using famous good-looking people to promote their products pretty much since the dawn of advertising.
There are few people more famous and good-looking than Ryan Reynolds. So, when he donned a T-shirt for a charity run, event organizers got a bunch of requests to buy it.
Happy to be involved with the #DearTerry initiative for @TerryFoxCanada. I’ve been taking part in the Terry Fox Run since second grade and can’t think of a more enduring and lovely legacy for one person. Terry Fox inspired millions in life and death. ❤️ 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/1EM2hD0w6R
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 18, 2023
Oh, it also helps that Reynolds helped design the tee.
The shirt is for the Terry Fox Run, an annual race where people across Canada run between 5 and 15 kilometers to raise awareness and money for cancer research. Terry Fox, who lost a leg to cancer at the age of 18, set out to run across Canada in 1981 with a prosthetic leg. Fox ran for 43 days across more than 3,000 miles before being forced to stop due to his condition. Fox passed away at 22 from complications from cancer.
Reynolds and the Terry Fox Foundation collaborated on the T-shirt design, which comes in both a long-sleeved and short-sleeved edition, and features multiple imprints.
The front shows a photo of Fox in black and white, with only the flag on his Canada T-shirt in color, and “Dear Terry” written in various handwriting styles over top, referencing letters written to him.
The back shows some of those letters in full detail.
Terry wanted to run across Canada to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Many doubted this was possible, but as Terry ran, people took notice, and he became the “greatest hero ever” for many.
Pre-order your #DearTerry shirt today at https://t.co/fwicQ9kLFC pic.twitter.com/lKkcdbDPNf
— TerryFoxFoundation (@TerryFoxCanada) February 27, 2023
On the long-sleeve version, it looks like there’s some decoration down the sleeve, but it’s hard to make out what it says.
Regardless, this has everything you’d want in an event T-shirt and then some. The design is classy and eye-catching, it represents the subject matter well, it features multiple imprint locations, comes in different styles, and has a mega-hunk movie star repping it.
Demand was so high for the T-shirt that the Terry Fox Foundation had to open up its first ever pre-sale for the shirt. The morning it was announced, the foundation sold more than 6,300 shirts, according to AS.
Reynolds took to Twitter again, this time to show his support for the foundation now working hard to keep up with requests for the T-shirt he helped design. You’re just making it more difficult, Deadpool! Now they’re going to get even more requests!
Love this. So much demand for this shirt benefitting @TerryFoxCanada. Amazing organization inspired by 🇨🇦 hero, Terry Fox. #DearTerry https://t.co/nSHv5uDiaP
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 21, 2023
Jokes aside, this is a fitting tribute to a Canadian hero, and it’s cool to have a modern icon of Canadian media participate in some way.
