Ryan Gosling surprises Toronto coffee shop after successful and humorous Twitter campaign

Ryan Gosling may have been in Toronto in order to attend the annual film festival, but he still had time in his schedule to surprise a local coffee shop.

A Toronto-based coffee shop has completed a rather humorous and successful social media campaign in style. Grinder coffee shop in Toronto, Canada, kicked off a Twitter campaign to convince Ryan Gosling he should stop in for a cup of coffee using #RyanNeedsGrinder. And it actually worked!

Yes, a Twitter campaign to get an actor to visit a cafe really succeeded, and we are all here for it!

According to People magazine, the campaign to get Gosling to visit Grinder coffee shop began on Sept. 1 when the owner of the store, Joelle Murray, tweeted out a picture of a cardboard cut out of the actor holding a cup of coffee with the store name on it. In the tweet, the coffee shop told their followers they were back on Twitter before issuing an invitation that said, “Come have coffee with us @RyanGosling while you are in town for #TIFF2018.”

The campaign did not stop there, as even the mayor, John Tory, made a stop for a cup of coffee and took a picture with the cutout. Then, in another post from the shop, they shared a picture featuring the top three reasons Ryan Gosling should visit the Grinder coffee shop. One of the three reasons was perfect for a laugh as they made it clear that they will “keep the ‘Hey girls’ to a minimum.”

Even the shop’s customers got behind the campaign, taking selfies with the cardboard cutout of the actor. And the night before First Man, the movie Gosling is starring in, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the coffee shop shared suggestions for how the actor could relax and prepare for the big day. This included trying one of their matcha lattes and getting a massage (all things the cardboard cutout got to enjoy if the pictures are to be believed).

The shop even reminded their followers of their failed campaign to get Idris Elba to visit them last year around the same time. (Looks like Elba may have missed out on a good time after all.)

It turns out that persistence, humor, and good coffee options really do work. On day eight of the #RyanNeedsGrinder Twitter campaign, Ryan Gosling arrived in Toronto for TIFF. And by day nine, the actor himself arrived at the coffee shop.

It seems that some hashtag campaigns really do work. And some actors have no problem showing their appreciation for their fans as the actor also took a sweet picture with Joelle Murray.

In a tweet showing Gosling at the coffee shop with Murray, they thanked the actor for being a “good sport” and taking the time out of his day to make the #RyanNeedsGrinder campaign a success.

Thanks to Grinder Coffee shop in Toronto, we have a new viral moment with Ryan Gosling to appreciate. And while we don’t know if the actor enjoyed a cup of coffee while he was there, it’s definitely exciting to know that he took the time to stop in and say hi to the shop after all the work they did to convince him to give them a chance.