Blake Lively scored big with her new Betty Booze ad, which features some familiar faces from husband Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham AFC team.
The clip — which was posted on Betty Booze’s Instagram account on Thursday, July 27 — showcases soccer players James Jones, Rob Lainton and Luke Young competing against each other as salesmen in a liquor store. Each player is given a drink (Bourbon, Lemonade and Shiso) and is expected to sell the maximum number of drinks in a certain timeframe. “It’s Blake Lively’s special recipe,” Young, 30, jokes with a customer. Ultimately, Lainton, 33, was declared the winner with 37 cans sold.
“The World Cup … But a different kind of cup,” Lively, 35, told her Instagram followers.
Reynolds, 46, joined forces with Rob McElhenney in November 2020 to buy the Welsh soccer team. Since taking over as owners, the team has managed to win the National League championship and be promoted to the English Football League for the first time in 15 years.
Lively, for her part, introduced the world to her newest venture, Betty Buzz, in September 2021 and shared that the name of the brand was a tribute to her late father, who died in June 2021.
“My dad’s name was Ernest Brown Jr. but he was known as Ernie Lively,” Blake said in a press release at the time. “He gave up his last name when he married my mom, [Elaine Lively], and any success he, or I, have experienced has been in a name that isn’t his. So when I was working hard to build this company, I wanted any success to be in a name that was meaningful to him. Betty was his mom and his sister’s name. Also, Ernie would not be the best name for a mixer.” (Blake and Reynolds, who share four children together, also named their third daughter Betty.
In June, Blake unveiled Betty Booze — a new extension of her Betty Buzz line — which features gourmet sparkling cocktails in a can.
“Betty Booze at your service. These are recipes I’ve been making for loved ones for years. But I have 4 kids now. And I’m tired. So here they are. In a can. Enjoy. Responsibly. … Ish,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories at the time.
After the launch of her new line, the actress received some backlash for making alcoholic drinks even though she doesn’t imbibe. Blake took to social media to respond to the criticism, revealing that the inspiration for Betty Booze comes from her childhood lemonade stand recipe.
“Yeah. I still do lemonade stands, but obviously alcohol free. And it sells out FAST. I didn’t perfect the recipe until I was in my 20s. It’s lemony gold,” she captioned an Instagram Story post of her hosting a lemonade stand with the sign “21 + over.” “But the adults in my life always wanted a version with alcohol. That’s where the idea for @bettybooze was born. Now they can leave me alone so I can get back to my lemonade stand hustle. It’s so good for my ego.”