This year's Super Bowl was heavily dominated by leading crypto companies and exchanges vying for the most coveted commercial ad spots to broadcast their crypto ad campaigns.
The crypto ad campaigns that aired on February 13 were able to captivate the attention of 100 million global users that tuned in to watch the broadcast of Super Bowl LVI.
Leading crypto exchanges and companies including Coinbase, FTX.com, Crypto.com, and BitBuy have reportedly shelled millions to book advertisement slots and run ads concerning cryptocurrency trading during the main event.
Cryptocurrency Ads In Super Bowl LVI
This year's Superbowl was initially dubbed as "Crypto Bowl" by numerous media outlets considering the number of cryptocurrency and blockchain ads scheduled to run during its official broadcast. Here's a look at the top crypto ads.
Coinbase
Last night cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase noticed an intense surge in user volume after the exchange aired its most anticipated crypto ad during the super bowl broadcast.
The ad that displays a bouncing QR code on a black TV screen prompted many users to scan the code, resulting in the app and website crashing temporarily
Many Twitter users referred to the ad as iconic and labeled it as a" minimalistic" ad campaign that managed to leave users astounded, engaged, and curious.
However, others - including security experts - questioned whether the exchange should promote scanning mysterious QR codes in a space that remains vulnerable to scams.
FTX.Com
Sam Bankman Fried backed FTX took a creative turn and managed to sign Larry David to do the crypto bidding on behalf of the exchange.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Jeff Schaffer, the Director of FTX, said:
This was the first idea that came by that was perfect as it was. Who better than Larry to belittle the total of human achievement and be wrong. It was a funny idea and we didn’t have to do another spin. He got excited by the idea and that’s what got him to do it.
Then we started to think about all the periods, different inventions and the agency lobbed all these ideas and we were lobbying ideas. At that point, the hard part became winnowing it down to how many we could fit in 60 seconds.
The ad features Larry David as a sceptic travelling through time and rejecting numerous ideas including the invention of the light bulb, forks, and the wheel. Later on, the ad displays an employee pitching FTX trading which is also rejected by Larry.
The tagline at the end of the ad states "don't be like Larry" urging users indirectly to accept ideas (such as trading via FTX).
Crypto.com
Another ad displayed during the Super Bowl event was of prominent exchange Crypto.com. The ad broadcast features a young LeBron James played by actor Bentley Greens, asking the real adult LeBron James about the future, with a tagline that says "Fortune favors the brave."
eToro
The US-based social investment company EToro also debuted their Super Bowl ad commercial featuring a swarm of literally flying investors that are sweeping new consumers to invest in crypto trading and investment.
Both the Shiba Inu and Dogecoin communities were especially happy with the eToro advert after it featured a Shiba Inu dog, too.
Mcdonald's Ad Fails To Include Crypto
Earlier this week, McDonald's tweeted an ad teaser spotlighting a blurred background with giant truck wheels and a date that states 2.13.22. The picture went viral and eventually caught the attention of "Dogefather" Elon Musk who in turn retweeted the tweet with a water droplet emoji.
The action prompted the Doge Army to speculate whether the fast-food giant was set to accept Dogecoin as payment for its products and services.
Later on, the tweet was unveiled as a super bowl commercial featuring Kanye West, with no reference to cryptocurrencies or accepting DOGE as a payment.