Happy Nice Mall

In virtual currency exchange Crypto.com’s latest ad, titled “Courage Is a Process,” star basketball player Joel Embiid walks through Philadelphia, and former college coach Bill Self lends the narrative.

“Even when our path didn’t make sense to everyone, we moved on,” says Mr Self in the ad, which aired on May 6th. “We continue until our path is the path they want.” d taken.”

What the ad doesn’t say: crypto market is in the middle of a meltdown. Buyers beware.

The crypto passion of Hollywood celebrities and top athletes has reached a high level over the past year. On social media, during interviews and even in music videos, they have portrayed virtual currency as a world with its own popular culture and philosophy – a world that is more inclusive than traditional finance and includes the chance to make loads of money.

The Super Bowl was nicknamed the “Crypto Bowl” this year because several commercials costing $7 million for 30 seconds featured the industry, and many of them had names in bold.

But after investors saw hundreds of billions of dollars disappear in a sale this month, these famous boosters are facing intense criticism for helping to lure vulnerable fans into investing in crypto without emphasizing the risks. Unlike clothes, snacks or many other items that celebrities sell, the crypto market is volatile and full of scams.

“This is the real money people invest in,” said Giovanni Compiani, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Chicago, whose research has found that younger, low-income investors tend to be overly optimistic about the trajectory of crypto. “Those who promote it should be more open about the potential downsides.”

So far, famous supporters of crypto have been largely silent about whether they have a second thought about their promotion.

Crypto.com declined to make Mr Embiid available to discuss his partnership with the company. Matt Damon, who compared the advent of virtual currency to the evolution of aerospace flight in a critically scanned but widely seen Crypto.com ad last year, did not respond to requests for the weigh-in. No response from basketball star LeBron James, either, who was featured in the company’s Super Bowl commercial this year.

Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, who declared “crypto is permanent” online in December, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither was Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, who named a Bitcoin lottery late last year.

Paris Hilton, close to 17 million Followers who follow her coo over her on Twitter lap dogs Crypto and Etherdid not respond to a request for comment. Other famous cryptocurrency drivers such as Mila Kunis, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady were also absent (although the Twitter profiles of Mr. Brady and Mr. Rodgers still exist). laser eyes, a popular symbol of Bitcoin bullish). The representative of tennis star Naomi Osaka, who is its ambassador. crypto exchange FTX this year, she wrote in an email, “unfortunately abroad and unavailable”.

In FTX’s Super Bowl commercial, comedian Larry David scribbled down important inventions like the wheel and the light bulb before rejecting crypto. The ad winked at viewers, urging “don’t be like Larry”.

Jeff Schaffer, director of the Super Bowl commercial, said in an email that he and Mr. David had no comment on the market crash.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we will have anything to add because we have no idea how cryptocurrency works (even after it has been explained to us many times), don’t own it and don’t follow its market,” he said. . “We set out to make a funny ad!”

Crypto’s instability underlines a fundamental misconception of its celebrity marketing: The support of a celebrity can be unforgettable – the points actor John Houseman made for the Smith Barney investment firm decades ago is Madison Avenue legend – but that doesn’t make the product inherently worth a try.

“That’s what they do — they’re celebrities, they’re offered money to promote something that promises,” said Beth Egan, an associate professor in advertising at Syracuse University.

But it wasn’t without risk, said Miss Egan. If the crypto industry continues to boom – or returns to a high-flight state – those who approve could be lauded. But if the decline continues, their reputation may suffer.

“If I were Matt Damon or Reese Witherspoon, I would question my willingness to take on this type of job,” she said.

In March, Crypto.com spent an average of $109,000 a day on digital advertising, according to estimates from ad analytics platform Pathmatics. In May, that fell to $24,669 a day.

According to Pathmatics, spending at FTX, one of the crypto companies that uses celebrity backers most aggressively, has dropped from $26,400 a day in March to $14,700 a day this month.

“We kind of created this arms race,” said Brett Harrison, president of FTX’s US arm., In an interview with The New York Times before the Super Bowl in February, he talked about the use of celebrity backers. Famous FTX brand ambassadors included Mr. David, Mr. Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen, golfer Albane Valenzuela, football player Aaron Jones, basketball player Stephen Curry and baseball player Shohei Ohtani.

“We planted our flag there and we have such a large presence that it’s not always our top priority to race to snatch all the remaining property, athletes and celebrities.”

But the company, which will likely spend “quite significantly more” on marketing, said it’s now focusing on reaching diverse demographics and pursuing lower-key tactics like digital campaigns and Google ads.

“We’re thinking of doing things a little differently than in the past,” he said.