Speaking for FTX, whose ads have featured Tom Brady and Larry David, Whittemore doesn’t see celebrity partnerships as a problem as long as those partners have crypto convictions.
“The long-term partners that we have chosen had an interest in the digital asset space even before we started working with them,” he wrote.
This is clear to Brady, who is one of the founders of the NFT platform Autograph and has come up with CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on social media. It’s less clear whether David has any skin in the game, though his appearance in FTX’s Super Bowl ad has so far been the duo’s only bond.
Binance’s celebrity strategy has followed a different course. In its first five years, the exchange has never partnered with big celebrities, Yi said. And while competitors teased brand-name ads back in February, Binance released a social media campaign warning consumers about celebrities (the ads ironically featured NBA player Jimmy Butler to deliver the message).
However, in June Binance chose Cristiano Ronaldo as its brand ambassador, and the following week appointed Khaby Lame – the most followed influencer on TikTok – to a similar role. Yi said she hopes these partnerships will help reshape celebrity influence in Web3.
“We believe that celebrities bear social responsibility to a certain extent, and good cooperation is a win-win situation,” she wrote. Both of Binance’s new partnerships will feature NFT drops, and the deal with Lame will leverage his platform to address misconceptions in Web3.
OKX has similarly stayed away from celebrities, although it supports partnerships with anyone who has a genuine interest in the space, Rafique said. In June, OKX became the exclusive sponsor of the Tribeca festival, beginning a three-year partnership. The annual event is a mecca for celebrities and was even co-founded by actor Robert de Niro.
Okcoin, OKX’s sister exchange, launched a cheeky campaign in March that asked users about a variety of controversial topics, such as the legitimacy of facial tattoos and buying their first home in crypto. The effort echoed the cheeky campaigns of other crypto brands, with a celebrity appearance from comedian Ali Kolbert and a bitcoin giveaway.
“I believe, and hope, the days of celebrities endorsing tokens or companies without proper due diligence and thoughtful execution are gone,” Rafique wrote. “But at a high level, I think the use of celebrity brand ambassadors is here to stay.”
