Less Talk, More Bitcoin

Why it works

For most of a minute, a small QR code drifted across a black screen, changing colour each time it touched an edge — a knowing riff on the bouncing DVD-player screensaver. No voiceover, no celebrity, no product shot; the Coinbase name appeared only at the very end. Scanning the code led to an offer of $15 in free Bitcoin for new sign-ups. It aired during Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022, amid star-packed spectacle. It is studied as television rebuilt as a response channel: the screen existed only to put a phone in the viewer’s hand. Coinbase said its landing page took more than 20 million hits in a minute, briefly breaking the site, and the app jumped from 186th to No. 2 in the App Store. It won the Super Clio as the game’s best ad and the Direct Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2022. Authorship was contested: Coinbase’s CEO called it an in-house idea, while the Martin Agency said it had pitched the concept first.