- Coinbase’s Super Bowl ad featuring a Backstreet Boys karaoke segment was booed by live audiences and widely criticized online.
- Executives at Coinbase argued the simple ad was designed to cut through clutter, but viewers found it confusing and poorly timed.
- The crypto exchange has a history of controversial marketing, including a UK ad banned for trivializing investment risks.
- The Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny also faced backlash from right-wing figures for its perceived anti-American sentiment.
During the Super Bowl, Coinbase‘s karaoke ad featuring the Backstreet Boys’ song was met with widespread boos, as footage shared online showed audiences groaning at the crypto exchange’s name. The ad, with PowerPoint-esque sing-along subtitles, was intended to be a simple attention-grabber amidst high-budget commercials.
However, viewers recorded their displeasure, with one X user noting a bar “viciously boo’d” the spot. Others were confused, believing it was a continuation of a prior T-Mobile ad featuring the same song.
Coinbase executives told Variety that the lo-fi style was pitched to cut through phone distractions. CEO Brian Armstrong said on X he wanted to offer “an antidote to polarization and just plain fun.”
In response to backlash, Coinbase tweeted “If you’re talking about it, it worked. Crypto is for everybody.” This follows a UK ad ban against Coinbase for trivializing crypto risks during a cost-of-living crisis.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny drew criticism from right-wing figures like Jake Paul who called him “a fake American citizen who publicly hates America.” Donald Trump described the show as “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” according to BBC reports.
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