Rounding out the exchanges was Crypto.com, which teamed with LeBron James for an ad that aired immediately after the halftime show. The 60-second spot features a young James, played by actor Bentley Green, asking the real, adult James about the future.
Notable about this ad is the return of the “fortune favors the brave” tagline that underscored the platform’s heavily criticized ad with Matt Damon earlier this year. The spot was deemed cringeworthy after seemingly implying that cryptocurrency was humanity's next great frontier, in the same vein as space exploration and mountaineering. It's too early to tell whether this version will receive similar backlash, though responses on social media seemed relatively positive at the time of writing.
Crypto.com’s tie-up with James also builds off a previous partnership for a Web 3.0 education initiative with James’ nonprofit.