On a mission to grow the digital currency ecosystem, FTX’s 60-second spot runs at the skepticism facing its category with Larry David as its “anti-sponsor.”
The debut represents FTX Trading Limited and West Realm Shires Services Inc., owners and operators of FTX.COM and FTX.US respectively (collectively, FTX).
“We need to meet people where they are—and that means embracing skepticism,” shares FTX Co-Founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, on the brand’s mass-market play. “A lot of people who are now the biggest advocates of crypto once had significant reservations.”
The spot was directed by Larry David’s longtime creative partner on both “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Jeff Schaffer. According to Schaffer, the concept pitched by FTX’s creative agency, dentsuMB, is what got Larry David—who’s never been in a commercial before—to finally say yes.
- Head here to replay FTX’s ad that launched in the game’s first half.
- Check out the just-launched Director’s Cut for even more content, here.
- Don’t miss out on FTX’s social sweepstakes, ending at 11:59 p.m. EST tonight. All participants must do is retweet the pinned #FTXContest post featuring the ad and follow FTX to get a chance at winning the time the ad ran on the East Coast in bitcoin. Since the ad ran at 7:54 p.m. EST, four people have a shot at winning 7.54 BTC each, currently valued at $320,397.
“Larry’s had endless ad suitors over the years, from beer brands to toilets. When we’d get concept materials, we’d say: ‘Oh, it could be fun if we bent it this way.’ This was the first idea we’ve ever seen, where we were like: ‘Oh, it’s perfect.'”
“Every invention has its skeptics and Larry is the proud voice of those people,” adds Schaffer.
According to a 2021 Ascent survey, over half of Americans who own cryptocurrency bought for the first time within the last 12 months. Over 20% of Americans, another 56.7M, who’ve never bought cryptocurrency, are likely to buy in the next year.
With crypto adoption continuing to rise, FTX, too, has seen substantial growth outlined in its recent Series A and operational update announcements going live for FTX US and FTX.com’s massive Series C raise and end of year recap:
FTX US
- Average daily trading volume grew 608% in 2021
- Total spot crypto traded in the first full year of operation eclipsed $67B
- Now, 1.2M users are on the exchange, an increase of 11,900% in 2021
FTX
- Ended 2021 with ~11.5x more volume than 2019-2020 combined
- Total spot crypto volumes increased nearly 2,400% resulting in $719B traded
- Now, 5M users are a part of the FTX family, with registrations increasing 1,500% in 2021
“What I hope people see is that we’re not taking ourselves too seriously. We wanted an ad that made people laugh and added even more fun to their Big Game experience and traditions,” says FTX’s Head of Marketing, Nathaniel Whittemore. “We’re not saying crypto is humankind’s greatest invention. We do see crypto’s radical potential though, so we want to invite people in. We want to be the safe place for people to explore and ask questions and feel empowered to orchestrate financial futures on their terms.”
Over the last year, FTX has amassed a stacked roster of partnerships to help invite people into the crypto space. According to Bankman-Fried, the next year is all about giving people even more resources to learn ways they might get involved while continuing to expand the set of safe and regulated products FTX offers to help people do so.
The FTX US app is available to download on iOS or Android.