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).
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 crypto, are likely to buy in the next year.
“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.
There’s also an extended cut:
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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.
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