If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
And if you can get Larry David to tag along, all the better.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX jumped into the Super Bowl commercial lineup this year, bringing along the bespectacled skeptic as the brand’s “anti-spokesman.”
“We need to meet people where they are—and that means embracing skepticism,” FTX Co-Founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, said in a statement about the brand’s mass-market play. “A lot of people who are now the biggest advocates of crypto once had significant reservations.”
The debut was one of several digital currency movers that competed for attention on advertising’s biggest stage—a group complemented by a pre-release buildup typically reserved for major celebrities on a press tour.
In general, what the crypto world unveiled was a letdown, not uncommon on this stage but certainly exacerbated by the fact that many expected the genre to provide the same type of epic surge as the dot-com era.
But if you’re looking at each with a literal lens—gains and losses—then FTX would undoubtedly be one that gained.
Related: What was that? Coinbase’s QR code Super Bowl commercial confuses viewers
Overall, the 60-second journey through history with Larry David curbing inventors’ enthusiasms was a hit. The heavy doses of “Eh” and “EEEEEHH” toward notable progress eventually landed at No. 16 in the USA TODAY Ad Meter ratings—which was impressive, considering there we 64 national ads and a ton of high-level production from major brands.
And speaking of behind the camera, the overall tone in the ad strikes a familiar style for a good reason. It was directed by Jeff Schaffer, a longtime creative partner on both “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”—who was reportedly the driving force for turning Larry from commercial naysayer to Super Bowl pitchman.
Wrap all that into one spot and it’s pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Watch the extended Director’s Cut here: