The Star and His Galaxy: Ryan Gosling
With The Chase for Carrera, their cinematic ad campaign, Tag Heuer and Ryan Gosling reinvented the celebrity collaboration. TOM CHAMBERLIN spoke to Hollywood’s leading man about the meta universe he has created with the storied Swiss watchmaker.
There was no lack of anticipation or hullabaloo when Tag Heuer launched what was ostensibly an advertisement, The Chase for Carrera, in April 2023. It was hardly surprising, since the short film starred arguably the biggest movie actor in the world, Ryan Gosling. Tag Heuer get an awful lot right, and Gosling was another big win.
When a brand announces an ambassador, you usually get a series of well-shot imagery for print advertising campaigns, billboards, and other traditional media. What made The Chase for Carrera so clever was that it took the movie Gosling was then featuring in, The Fall Guy (great fun; highly recommended), and blended it with the zip of Tag Heuer and their partnership with Gosling. The luxury industry is guilty of a lack of irreverence, and this movie turned that reputation on its head with a comic skit that made the brand look dynamic and cool. And so it has continued, with Ryan showcasing Tag Heuer on screen with a rainbow of characters (the pink-dial Carrera, during his promotion of Barbie, was perhaps the most enjoyable iteration).
I had the opportunity to ask him about his partnership with Tag Heuer, and whether the chance to become more involved in the brand’s creative process — beyond a photoshoot — was appealing. “I think that’s what makes them so unique and what I enjoy most about this collaboration,” Gosling said. “It’s a great example — The Chase for Carrera campaign felt like a mini film in itself. In the end it wasn’t just about showcasing a product, it was about the brand proving how versatile it can be by integrating itself seamlessly into the world and the tone of the film we were creating with The Fall Guy, which was a movie about making a movie — and so Tag allowed the ad to be an ad about making an ad.
“Just as much as they honour each sport and athlete they collaborate with, they’ve done the same with me. So much of what I do is about entering the different worlds of these films and these characters, and Tag have entered those worlds enthusiastically with me ever since. You know, I think we’ve made more films since we started this collaboration, and they’ve all been so different. A spy thriller, a comedy, an action comedy, now science fiction. So, yeah, I admire their versatility and their ability to allow me to stay in the worlds and the characters that I’m in when I’m working on these campaigns.”
It’s an interesting change of tack, since brands most often try to leverage their own story and ask their ambassadors to adapt to it. But can a watch really inform character? “A watch I wear can definitely communicate something about the character,” Gosling said. “For example, in Drive I wore this very minimalist, understated watch that sort of reflected the character’s aesthetic, but then I would fasten it to the steering wheel during heist jobs to communicate how every second that passed was determining his fate. In Half Nelson I wore a Casio calculator watch with a rubber band holding it together to communicate that he was a teacher at the end of his rope. In Barbie I wore three watches at once, to communicate how meaningful an exchange was to the character when he was asked for the time and he didn’t have it. In that case, it wasn’t about function at all — it was symbolic and almost emotional.”
In Barbie I wore three watches at once... In that case it wasn’t about function — it was almost emotional.
Gosling’s time at the pinnacle of his profession, as well as with Tag Heuer, has given him a new perspective on the passing of time, and the importance of the instruments that track it. “It’s interesting, because I realise film is, in a lot of ways, about time. It’s about where and how you spend your time and the audience’s time. You know, what time period does the film take place in? How much time does a character have to realise their story? What’s the running time of the film? Does it take place over 24 hours, or is it a multigenerational story that takes place over a long period of time? It’s kind of a classic editing and storytelling tool to cut to a clock or a watch in order to create tension.”
There are plans for Gosling to integrate Tag Heuer’s watches with one of his latest movies, Project Hail Mary, which is due for release next year. Of the film, he teases: “It’s about a schoolteacher who goes to space, so there was an opportunity there to communicate something about him. The character has to exist in two different worlds, both on Earth in a classroom and also in another galaxy. So I needed something that could exist in both those realms. I ended up using the Tag, which I thought was helpful because, you know, it fit the film and the character’s need for both precision and technology.”
In many ways The Chase for Carrera has set the tone for everything that has followed between Tag and Gosling — a playful, cinematic sleight of hand that hints at the partnership’s deeper potential. What began as a clever campaign has become something more layered: a timekeeping brand that doesn’t just sit on the wrist but travels with its ambassador into storylines, genres and galaxies. As Gosling’s characters continue to chase meaning, identity and purpose on screen and in script, Tag Heuer keep time not just with precision but with personality.
