Coinbase Plans $15 Million Ad Campaign for NBA Playoffs, According to Report

Coinbase Launches $15 Million TV Commercials During NBA Playoffs

Coinbase, the U.S.’s largest crypto exchange, is set to launch a series of TV commercials with a budget of $15 million across four major channels airing NBA playoffs. The aim of this marketing move is to attract more sports enthusiasts into the world of cryptocurrency.

Symbolism of the Commercials

The commercials, symbolized by pizza, creatively showcase the journey pizzas would go through if they were treated as money within today’s traditional financial systems. The ad humorously narrates, “If pizza worked like this, you wouldn’t like pizza.”

The news of these upcoming Coinbase commercials has not been officially confirmed yet. It is reported that three separate ads will be aired across four channels broadcasting NBA playoffs, starting Wednesday.

Highlighting the Complexity of Traditional Payment Systems

The motive behind these commercials is to emphasize the complexity of traditional payment systems when compared to cryptocurrencies. Two of the commercials are 30 seconds long, while one runs for 60 seconds, and they will be broadcasted on ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and ABC. The ads are scheduled to run until June 9.

Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, pointed out, “We’re under the illusion that when we use credit cards or Venmo, things are happening instantly, but they’re actually just part of very complex plumbing that’s masked by a digital interface.”

The Journey of Coinbase’s Pizza Ad

The ad depicts the pizza going through various scrutiny and approval stages, symbolizing traditional credit card transactions where middlemen take a significant portion of commission. The narrator explains, “This is pretty much what happens to your money whenever you spend it or send it.”

At the final stage, the pizza encounters a door marked “surcharge,” symbolizing credit card fees. A delivery boy remarks, “we deserve a better system, easier, simpler, faster. That’s how crypto works.”

Coinbase’s vice president of engineering highlighted, “Coinbase is building the future of money to ensure American consumers own their own pie and that their payments move at the speed of the internet.”