Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong’s attempts to take credit for the hit SuperBowl floating QR code advertisement backfired Monday.
What Happened: Armstrong said on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) that the floating QR code meme advertisement dished out by the cryptocurrency trading platform was an idea of “brainstorming” after being presented a “bunch of standard super bowl ad ideas” by an outside agency.
Armstrong said that the advertisement was inspired by Reddit’s “superb” but fleeting Super Bowl advertisement from last year.
However, Armstrong was contradicted by Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency, who tweeted that the advertisement was actually inspired by presentations from her agency. She referred to the exact page numbers which contained concepts for the QR code advertisement.
It was actually inspired by presentations our agency showed your team on 8/18 (pages 19-24) and 10/7 (pages 11-18) with ad concepts for the Super Bowl with floating QR codes on a blank screen.Kate Rouch, the chief marketing officer, of Coinbase also jumped in on the contentious exchange of tweets and said that multiple agencies including The Martin Agency pitched us ideas that included QRs.— Kristen Cavallo (@Cavallokristen) February 21, 2022
“However none of the ideas from any of our partners were conceptually what we were looking for and remained on the cutting room floor,” said Rouch, in a tweet.
She said it was only when Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Interactive, the digital agency unit of Accenture, came up with the idea of inserting a QR with a popular meme that it was given the go-ahead.
3/5: Only when AI onboarded and came up with the idea of inserting a QR code in a popular meme did we green light the idea. The meme as a conceptual underpinning was creative genius and a unique use of the QR code and was what unlocked our SB success.See Also: How To Buy Coinbase (COIN) Shares— Kate Rouch (@kate_rouch) February 22, 2022
Why It Matters: Coinbase’s digital platform allows users to trade in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE). It is the second-biggest cryptocurrency exchange in spot volumes behind Binance, according to CoinMarketCap.
Rouch said she made the call that led to The Martin Agency not being chosen and said “breaking up is hard to do.”
5/5: Breaking up is hard to do. I wish the team at The Martin Agency all the best.Coinbase’s Super Bowl advertisement went viral this month and caused the company’s app to stop functioning after it was broadcasted. The company spent $14 million on the QR commercial, as the prior report.— Kate Rouch (@kate_rouch) February 22, 2022
The advertisement was linked with the “Less talk, more Bitcoin” campaign. Coinbase announced a Bitcoin giveaway to its new users and also gave a chance to its existing users to win $3 million in Bitcoin.
Price Action: On Friday, Coinbase shares closed 1.4% lower at $189.16 in the regular session. At press time, BTC traded 6.4% lower at $36,639.66.
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