This year’s Super Bowl saw a marketing blitz from crypto brands looking to attract mainstream audiences to the growing space.
In total, four national ads aired during the game on behalf of Coinbase, Crypto.com, FTX and eToro. From an unannounced, floating QR code, to the return of a controversial tagline and the appearance of a tunic-clad Larry David, here’s how each brand showed up in the unofficial “Crypto Bowl.”
Coinbase was the first of three exchange platforms to air an ad, and it certainly made a splash. The spot featured a QR code changing colors and bouncing across the screen—a nod to the infamous DVD screensaver. Demand was so high on the webpage to which the code was linked, that some users experienced error messages.
The ad offered new Coinbase customers $15 in free bitcoin. Those who previously signed up would be entered into the platform's $3 million giveaway.
Coinbase's appearance may have been a surprise to many. Leading up to the game, the brand made no mention of having a Super Bowl spot even as its competitors built hype around their own. Accenture Interactive was the agency behind the ad, which aired in the first quarter.
FTX, another exchange platform, may end up in the running for this year’s funniest Big Game ad—a 60-second spot that also ran in the first half. Larry David, who also made his Super Bowl debut, channels his iconic skepticism by shooting down some of the most important inventions in human civilization, culminating in his lack of enthusiasm for the FTX platform. Among the various characters he portrays are a tunic-clad medieval monk, founding father and screaming critic of portable music players.
The ad also features a bitcoin giveaway that was teased in the days leading up to the game.
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.
Outside of exchange platforms, eToro—a social investment company—also debuted a crypto-focused ad. Appearing in the third quarter, the 30-second spot featured a flying crowd of investors literally sweeping up new consumers interested in cryptocurrency investing.
Absent from the Super Bowl was Binance, the largest exchange platform in the world, which advertised around the Big Game with placements on social media urging consumers not to trust crypto advice from celebrities during the game. The company used "#CryptoCeleb Alert" on social media.
The advertisements have been airing across social since a teaser featuring NBA player Jimmy Butler went live on Feb. 2. The ad’s larger campaign, which includes appearances from hip-hop star J Balvin and mixed martial artist Valentina Shevchenko, began on Feb. 7.
