Coinbase chose the minimalistic life but it backfired. The crypto exchange has been at the forefront of the whole crypto revolution. Now, trying to lure the globe into the crypto-verse it decided to make its debut at Super Bowl with an innovative commercial.
Following the mantra “Less talk, more Bitcoin,” Coinbase decided to limit the ad to a mere QR code. Further inspired by the bouncing DVD logo, the 60-second ad had the QR code doing the same. On scanning, the QR code viewers would be directed to the crypto exchange’s website. The website curated a promotional event where new signs ups would garner about $15 worth of free Bitcoin. This wasn’t all, a whopping $3 million giveaway was also put in place.
This nostalgic train headed nowhere. Amidst all the celebrity glitz this minimalistic ad caught the eye of many. The massive interest in the QR code crashed the Coinbase application.
Coinbase certainly did not expect traffic of this magnitude. An array of people veered into Twitter to alert the crypto exchange of its latest crash following the commercial that aired on Sunday afternoon.
The crypto exchange addressed the issue almost immediately and reminded the community that the giveaway was available until 15 February.
Furthermore, several in the community suggested that the Coinbase crash was an indication of the increased interest in crypto. The Chief Product Officer at Coinbase, Surojit Chatterjee pointed out that the exchange hadn’t amassed this sort of traffic ever. He tweeted,
“@coinbase just saw more traffic than we’ve ever encountered, but our teams pulled together and only had to throttle traffic for a few minutes. We are now back and ready for you at http://drops.coinbase.com. Humbled to have been witness to this. #WAGMI”
Coinbase and other crypto exchanges at this year’s Super Bowl
Move over Eminem and Snoop Dogg, cryptocurrencies were the star of this year’s Super Bowl. A slew of cryptocurrency exchanges decided to advertise their platform at one of the most popular games. Along with Coinbase, exchanges like FTX, Crypto.com, eToro as well as Bitbuy jumped in on the Super Bowl craze.
Additionally, the prominent beer brand, Bud Light included Nouns Ethereum NFT during its commercial.