The NFL’s Super Bowl attracts hundreds of millions of viewers each and every year. It’s technically a football game but the commercials are their own main event. In 2022, it cost $6.5 million for 30 seconds between the action. Last year, the big game was dubbed the Crypto Bowl because of all of the ads for cryptocurrency exchanges. Here’s how the last 12 months treated these big spenders in this week’s Five for Friday.
#5. eToro
With the massive price tag for airtime during the big game, eToro’s ad fell flat. There was no star power, no comedy and it didn’t generate any buzz. The cryptocurrency and stock trading app’s year was uneventful, similar to that of its commercial. But boring may be welcome considering the struggles crypto has faced over the last year. eToro comes out relatively unscathed.
Binance saved its money last year and attempted to head off any concerns about celebrity crypto endorsements. The company tapped NBA star Jimmy Butler for a Twitter video telling fans not to listen to the big names pushing crypto during the Super Bowl. Binance has since been accused of triggering the liquidity crisis that caused the collapse of rival exchange FTX. It’s now dominating the crypto market more than any competitor, filling the void left behind by FTX.
#3. Coinbase
Coinbase’s Super Bowl ad was simply a QR code bouncing around the screen like the old school DVD screensaver. If you scanned it and set up an account, you were eligible for $15 in Bitcoin. The ad had viewers on the edge of their seats wondering exactly what it was. It was so successful the Coinbase app crashed following the initial airing of the commercial. Amid struggles in cryptocurrency that followed since, the company had to lay off more than 2,000 employees in the last year. Coinbase also reported a $1 billion net loss for the second quarter of 2022. It’s not the worst thing to happen to a crypto exchange this past year, but it certainly isn’t good.
#2. Crypto.com
Crypto.com and actor Matt Damon took heat for their “Fortune Favors the Brave” ads which aired well before the Super Bowl. During the big game, Crypto.com opted for a commercial featuring future NBA all-time scoring leader Lebron James. In the end, the spot seemed more like an ad for the NBA superstar than for cryptocurrency. Crypto.com has laid off thousands of employees since last summer and its token Cronos lost $1 billion in value in November due to concerns over the contagion effect of the FTX collapse.
#1. FTX
Larry David being skeptical about innovations throughout human history seemed like a good idea for FTX last year. But the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star may have been right to be hesitant in the case of FTX. Now it’s bankrupt and founder Sam Bankman-Fried is under house arrest at his parents’. FTX has been accused of illegally financing the Super Bowl spot and Larry David and a whole host of other FTX-promoting celebrities have been named in a class action lawsuit.
Simone makes sense of U.S. politics, business and economic policy in a way that’s clear and approachable. She covers everything from international trade and tariffs to tech regulation, inflation and the cost of living.
Emma Stoltzfus (Editor)
and Brent Jabbour (Producer)
contributed to this report.
