In a 60-second ad spot, about US$14mln of airtime, a colour-changing QR code bounced around the screen, in an homage to retro, low-fi screensavers Cr
In a 60-second ad spot, about US$14mln of airtime, a colour-changing QR code bounced around the screen, in an homage to retro, low-fi screensavers
Crypto and gimmickry aren’t unfamiliar bedfellows, nevertheless, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) still managed to grab its share of headlines after a Bitcoin giveaway during half time of the Superbowl caused its platform to crash.
Coinbase stock is seen relatively higher soon after Monday’s open in New York, even despite the outage and other much larger geopolitical factors that influenced the markets – with Russian tensions sending further ‘risk off’ signals to traders.
During last night’s Superbowl, dubbed by some as the Cryptobowl due to the amount of advertising around the event being devoted to crypto products and services, the leading digital asset exchange’s campaign managed to be expensive but certainly not flashy.
In a 60-second ad spot, about US$14mln of airtime, a colour-changing QR code bounced around the screen, in an homage to retro, low-fi screensavers (like those used by Windows XP and DVD players).
In terms of production, the ad cost little to make, compared to other celebrity-loaded campaigns, which included Scarlett Johansson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Idris Elba.
The website’s homepage also displayed crypto-related messages including ‘Less talk, more Bitcoin.’
Users who scanned the QR code with their phones were directed to a Bitcoin giveaway, US$15 worth of BTC for each new customer sign-up.
The gimmick backfired somewhat, however. Seemingly a victim of its own popularity the surge of NFL fans onto the Coinbase website evidently caused both the website and the app to crash.
The apparent outage, which was reported over social media, was said to have only lasted for a couple of minutes.
Other crypto-related ads were prominent including Coinbase rival, the FTX exchange also made its Super Bowl debut via an ad featuring Larry David being ironically and theatrically skeptical of digital currencies.
Other crypto trading exchanges such as Crypto.com and eToro Ltd helped “Crypto Bowl” arise.
Some crypto-heads and commentators cheered the so-called ‘Crypto Bowl’ as the latest example of digital currencies and ‘web 3.0’ crossing over to the mainstream, but, not everyone was as convinced (as on viral tweet highlighted).
Coinbase shares advanced 1.4% higher to US$197.22
One reason I still have trouble believing crypto currency is money is that there aren’t commercials for money.
— Noah Garfinkel (@NoahGarfinkel) February 14, 2022
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