Matt Damon’s Crypto.com TV spot turns one
The crypto industry has had its share of problems with marketing, from projects many authorities labeled as scams to high-profile branding with sports franchises, but one ad that has stood out came from crypto exchange Crypto.com featuring Hollywood star Matt Damon.
Many have ridiculed the “fortune favors the brave” ad starring Damon since its release in October 2021, using the TV spot as a creative springboard to criticize the crypto space and celebrities who support it. The creators of South Park have aired two episodes and a two-part special poking fun at crypto users and the Crypto.com ad specifically. Late-night TV hosts, including Stephen Colbert, also targeted the ad space with parodies and jokes after the market slump in May.
At the time Damon showed his face to promote the exchange, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was more than $60,000, Ether (ETH) was more than $4,000, and the total crypto market cap was about $2.6 trillion. Although some tokens have brought gains to many investors since then, the prices of BTC and ETH have fallen more than 60% since 2021, reaching $20,627 and $1,552 respectively at the time of publication.
It’s unclear how much Crypto.com may have compensated Damon for the ad — he also received $1 million in donations for Water.org — but the actor wasn’t the only celebrity promoting crypto firms. Actress and producer Reese Witherspoon’s company partnered with a defunct token pool to develop feature films and a TV series, and Kim Kardashian promoted the EthereumMax project on her Instagram stories — which later led to charges from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission .
Today @SECGovwe accused Kim Kardashian of illegally naming a crypto security.
This case is a reminder that when celebrities/influencers endorse investment opps, including crypto-asset securities, it does not mean that these investment products are right for all investors.
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) 3 October 2022
Related: Influential celebrities who joined the crypto club in the past year
Other marketing and regulatory efforts by the crypto exchange look set to continue moving forward despite CEO Kris Marszalek announcement layoffs in June. Financial regulators in Italy, Cyprus, France and the UK have approved Crypto.com to offer crypto services to their residents, and the exchange went on to renovate the former Staples Center in Los Angeles following a $700 million deal.
While Crypto.com entered into many sponsorship deals with sports organizations prior to the market downturn, reports have suggested that the exchange may have reduced the scope of some of these partnerships. Cointelegraph reported in September that the crypto exchange dropped out of a half-billion dollar sponsorship deal with the Union of European Football Associations Champions League. An October report suggested that Crypto.com’s deals with Los Angeles’ Angel City Football Club, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and e-sports tournament host Twitch Rivals may also have been affected.
