Less is more for Coinbase Global Inc., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. The company debuted a new commercial during Super Bowl LVI that didn’t bear much resemblance to any of its surrounding advertisements in the broadcast.
The sixty-second advertisement is almost solely composed of a QR code ricocheting against the sides of the frame, akin to a DVD Video logo that appears when a movie is paused for a long enough stretch of time. Set to a song titled “Alupa – Pappa,” the QR card bounces around, changing colors, before the commercial concludes with the Coinbase logo. Scanning the QR code redirects viewers to Coinbase’s official website.
Coinbase followed up the advertisement with a message on social media, announcing a $15 Bitcoin giveaway to users who join on Super Bowl Sunday.
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!
Sign up and see terms here → https://t.co/fKHisXZJJc pic.twitter.com/SDWUup2Ql5
— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 14, 2022
Immediately after the commercial aired on Sunday afternoon, numerous reports emerged on social media that Coinbase’s website had crashed, with the sudden influx of users likely to blame. The website is now accessible and usable as of this writing.
The stuttering in Coinbase servers isn’t the only hurdle that the cryptocurrency exchange has faced this weekend. Coinbase temporarily suspended trading on its new Advanced Trading platform on Friday afternoon after being notified of a vulnerability in its trading systems by a white-hat hacker.
“The issue is sensitive and could allow malicious users to send all Coinbase order books to arbitrary prices,” the white-hat hacker, who goes by the pseudonym “Tree of Alpha” told CoinDesk through Twitter. The company has since collaborated with the hacker to resolve the issue.
Coinbase’s small-scale advertisement is only the first cryptocurrency-related commercial for a Super Bowl broadcast that is expected to air promotions from other cryptocurrency exchanges.