Crypto Company Spends Millions On Super Bowl Advert Before Website Crashes

Coinbase – a company specialising in cryptocurrency – paid a reported $7 million for the minute long spot during the biggest sporting event in the USA’s calendar, and used the time they’d purchased to just have a QR code bouncing around on the screen.

If you remember the bouncing DVD logo that came on when you left your machine idling for a while, you will have an idea of what we’re talking about here.

Anyway, the QR code was supposed to take people to the Coinbase website, where they could claim $15 of Bitcoin for free upon signing up.

It’s a pretty clever piece of advertising, you’d have to agree.

Well, it would be if the website didn’t crash, seemingly due to high demand.

At least it’s got people talking about the company, I suppose.

On their Twitter account, the company announced the ad, writing: “ICYMI 👀Now that we have your attention we'd like to announce that we're giving away $15 in BTC to anyone who joins Coinbase by 2/15. Click below for more info and RT to tell your friends!”

Making a statement to AdWeek, Coinbase CEO Kate Rouch explained the thinking behind the campaign.

She said: "At Coinbase we have a goal of introducing a billion people to the cryptoeconomy,

“Crypto is about access for everyone, not old models of winner takes all, stoking fear of ‘FOMO.'”

The reported figure of how much the advert cost has come from news agency Sopitas, who – in Spanish – said: "This is the commercial EVERYONE is talking about! Coinbase spent $7 million USD to advertise this QR code for 30 seconds in the transmission of #SuperBowl as if it were a DVD Within seconds, their servers were saturated and down geniuses!"

Author and former US intelligence consultant Edward Snowden also got in on the fun, tweeting: “Coinbase spending $16,000,000 on a Superbowl ad to direct people to their website and $0 to make sure that website doesn't crash 10 seconds after the ad starts is so very internet.”

Wait, $16,000,000?

At least the figures are only reported.

All we know is that it does cost an arm and a leg to buy advertising time and space during the Super Bowl, so they’ll no doubt be wound up that the website crashed and turned it into something of a joke.

Still, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.