Coinbase’s Super Bowl Advert Was Really Disappointing

Coinbase made its debut at the Super Bowl with a 60-second ad featuring a floating and colorful QR code bouncing around the screen. The peculiar and eye-catching sight quickly drew huge traffic. Unfortunately, the app couldn’t handle the surge and it crashed for about an hour during the broadcast!

Coinbase’s Super Bowl Bouncing QR Code Ad

According to reports, this year’s broadcast reached around 117 Million viewers worldwide. So it was the perfect opportunity to launch an above-the-line initiative that appeals to a mainstream audience. Coinbase wanted to take advantage of the ad to push for user acquisition. The QR code redirected viewers to a link offering $15 in Bitcoin to those who will create an account before February 15.

The ad quickly became popular. Perhaps too popular!

Surojit Chatterjee, chief product officer at Coinbase, wrote on Twitter that the ad had more than 20 million hits on its landing page in one minute. Meanwhile, the engagement was six times higher than previous benchmarks. He said these numbers are “historic and unprecedented.” Meanwhile, the app also skyrocketed in popularity, rising from 186th place to 2nd on Apple’s App Store.

The massive influx of traffic proves that it was indeed a clever ad. However, tech-wise, Coinbase was not able to deliver a desirable seamless user experience. In fact, some even got turned off that that app was down. In addition, they wasted a good opportunity to attract new users and make a good impression.

Adweek, the platform that covers the latest news in advertising, marketing, media and tech, posted a poll asking its over 600,000 followers on Twitter what they thought about the ad. With close to 3000 votes in, the results are favorable. 59.3% said that they loved the ad! So despite the tech issues, Coinbase made a lasting impression. So hopefully, those who weren’t able to access the page would circle back and try to redeem their free BTC again.

Other Crypto Companies

Other cryptocurrency companies also took advantage of their Super Bowl spot. FTX, another crypto exchange, featured comedian Larry David. Meanwhile, Crypto.com — which recently bought the naming rights to Los Angeles’ Staples Center, now the Crypto.com Arena — signed up Lebron James.

Not everyone in the NFT community was happy. For weeks, crypto Twitter has been speculating that Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs will be one of the highlights at this year’s Super Bowl Show. Then, a few days before the show, BAYC co-founder @CryptoGarga released a statement that the team was not working on anything related to the Super Bowl. Some BAYC holders thought it was just a diversion and that there would be a major plot twist. To the community’s disappointment, bored Apes were really a no-show during the broadcast.