{"id":12986,"date":"2022-02-14T10:08:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T10:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/whats-behind-larry-david-and-lebron-james-super-bowl-ads\/"},"modified":"2022-02-14T10:08:56","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T10:08:56","slug":"whats-behind-larry-david-and-lebron-james-super-bowl-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/14\/whats-behind-larry-david-and-lebron-james-super-bowl-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s behind Larry David and LeBron James Super Bowl ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The crypto economy got the red carpet treatment at Super Bowl LVI<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, looking to demystify their businesses for tens of millions of Americans, secured commercials during the big game, which cost up to $7 million per 30-second spot. Some enlisted famous faces. <\/p>\n

Larry David appeared as a clueless time traveler who turns up his nose at great innovations (The wheel? Eh. The lightbulb? \u201cCan I be honest? … it stinks.\u201d) before pooh-poohing a pitch for crypto company FTX. The tagline: \u201cDon\u2019t be like Larry. Don\u2019t miss out on the next big thing.\u201d Later, LeBron James schooled his younger self about taking chances in an ad for Crypto.com. <\/p>\n

It was widely anticipated that big names would back crypto and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, during the big game. So much so that ahead of the match, cryptocurrency trading platform Binance dropped videos featuring the Miami Heat\u2019s Jimmy Butler and music artist J. Balvin warning viewers against celebrity crypto endorsements. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn Feb. 13, you\u2019re going to hear some of the biggest names telling you to get into crypto,\u201d Butler said. \u201cBut they don\u2019t know you or your finances. Only you do.\u201d <\/p>\n

The star-studded ads<\/a> were the latest example of the entertainment industry\u2019s growing interest in everything blockchain. In the past year, there\u2019s been a preponderance of actors, musicians and athletes talking up digital currencies and or NFTs \u2014 unique digital records authenticating ownership of an item, tracked on a digital ledger. <\/p>\n

Movie studios are auctioning off crypto collectibles to promote new films. Musicians are releasing songs, albums and memorabilia as tokens, giving fans access to bonus material. Theme park designers are talking about bringing famous characters and fantasy worlds into the metaverse. DJs are planning totally virtual concerts and parties. <\/p>\n

And of course, there are the celebrity crypto endorsements. Last year Matt Damon appeared in a Crypto.com ad comparing electronic currency investment to nautical exploration and space travel, with the slogan, \u201cFortune favors the brave.\u201d Paris Hilton showed off her Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT<\/a> on \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.\u201d Reese Witherspoon has touted crypto assets on Twitter. \u201cIn the (near) future, every person will have a parallel digital identity,\u201d the \u201cBig Little Lies\u201d star tweeted in January<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Critics have balked at the spectacle of the rich and famous encouraging viewers to gamble on a risky and speculative market that has been plagued by grifters. Skeptics say the cryptocurrency and NFT craze has primarily benefited wealthy early adopters \u2014 the true believers \u2014 who could afford to get in early. <\/p>\n

Analysts see clear parallels in the crypto space to the dot com bubble. That earlier hype cycle reached a pop culture apex at the 2000 Super Bowl. That game featured ads by companies like Pets.com, which quickly collapsed. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy problem is, when 98% of these NFTs will go bust in the next couple of years, it will just crush a lot of the small investors,\u201d said Anindya Ghose, a professor at New York University\u2019s Stern School of Business. \u201cIf you\u2019re Matt Damon or Paris Hilton, you can afford to lose 5% of the net worth. But for many small retail investors, five or 10% of your net worth is a nontrivial loss.\u201d <\/p>\n

A-listers repping brands and products is nothing new, of course. But selling crypto and NFTs is more awkward than pitching for typical consumer goods, because the ideas are still foreign to many consumers. It\u2019s not quite the same as pitching for potato chips and energy drinks, said Columbia Business School professor R.A. Farrokhnia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are you going to explain nonfungible tokens in a way that\u2019s understandable and portrays some of the risks attached to it?\u201d Farrokhnia asked.<\/p>\n

Broad skepticism hasn\u2019t stopped ambitious artists from experimenting in the growing crypto universe. <\/p>\n

DJ and producer Steve Aoki, one of the most vocal proponents of NFTs and the possibilities of blockchain technologies in entertainment, has set up an online platform dubbed A0K1VERSE for holders of Steve Aoki NFTs. <\/p>\n

He describes the project as a digital version of a membership-based social club, like Soho House, with different tiers of experiences, including access to collectibles, concert tickets and virtual performances. At a certain membership level, fans could collaborate with him on music, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI call it the preseason,\u201d Aoki said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different ways to think about where we\u2019re going. The exciting part now, for creators like myself, is that we can actually start building the architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Entertainers and companies are trying to learn and prepare for a future when audiences live more of their lives in virtual worlds, said Adam Friedman, an executive at Creative Artists Agency. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re well past the notion of anything in the space being a cash grab,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIt\u2019s about what makes the most sense strategically for the client, their business and their brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some in the industry think there\u2019s potential to mine NFTs for movie and TV show ideas, treating them as I.P., or intellectual property, similar to comic books, video games and toy lines. Last year, CAA signed Jenkins the Valet, a digital character created by Tally Labs, for representation in books, film, TV and podcasts. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s I.P., and if the I.P. is compelling, and clients and the market find it compelling, there\u2019s a lot of opportunity,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n

Kat Graham, an actress and artist who makes music under the name Toro Gato, released her latest album exclusively as a series of NFTS<\/a>. Graham said she sees the format as a way to circumvent an exploitative record label system. <\/p>\n

Graham worked with the NFT marketplace YellowHeart, which helped the rock band Kings of Leon release an NFT version of its record in one of the first major uses of the format by a mainstream artist.<\/p>\n

Graham said selling NFT albums gives her a more direct connection to fans than streaming, which smaller artists have despised for years because of paltry royalties. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like we have our own club, like we have our own community,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that this space will open up more artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFTs started to pick up steam during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the rise in popularity of physical collectibles, such as baseball cards, as alternative investments. <\/p>\n

But the newness and volatility of the crypto economy has made it a hotbed for swindlers and intellectual property theft. Early this month, a website called HitPiece allegedly auctioned off music NFTs without artists\u2019 permission, infuriating musicians and leading the Recording Industry Assn. of America to call the platform \u201clittle more than a scam operation.\u201d <\/p>\n

A class action lawsuit last month accused Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather of artificially pumping up the price of the cryptocurrency EthereumMax. The coin lost about 97% of its value in seven months<\/a>, leading critics to call it a \u201cpump and dump\u201d hustle.<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice this month charged a married couple \u2014 one of whom moonlighted as a YouTube rapper \u2014 in a $4.5-billion crypto money laundering scheme. <\/p>\n

Such incidents have damaged the sector\u2019s reputation in the general public. Some believers recognize the issues, but see them as a natural part of a work in progress. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be bubbles, there\u2019s going to be bad actors, there\u2019s going to be scams,\u201d said Jeremy S. Goldman, a Los Angeles-based partner at law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz who specializes in blockchain issues. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t negate the fact that underlying this is an incredible new innovation that has the ability to bring tremendous value to new creators and to existing creators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studios have tried to clamp down on artists<\/a> selling NFT versions of their work featuring Marvel and DC superheroes. Miramax sued Quentin Tarantino for planning to auction images of his handwritten \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d script. Tarantino\u2019s lawyers argued that the director had the right to sell the pages as NFTs under his original contract. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, movie studios and TV networks are dipping their toes in with their own NFTs. <\/p>\n

Warner Bros. has issued tokens based on its \u201cMatrix\u201d and \u201cSpace Jam\u201d franchises ahead of new film releases. AMC Networks enlisted NFT production company Orange Comet to issue computer-animated \u201cWalking Dead\u201d clips as tokens. And Sony Pictures and AMC Theatres created \u201cSpider-Man\u201d NFTs for members of AMC\u2019s movie ticket subscription program and investors. <\/p>\n

To promote \u201cGhostbusters: Afterlife,\u201d Sony Pictures auctioned 10 \u201cGhostbusters\u201d vignettes as NFTs on the OpenSea marketplace leading up to the release. The Culver City studio also issued thousands of digital collectible Mini-Pufts (tiny Stay Puft marshmallow characters) to appeal to the more everyday consumer. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a phase where you have these crypto whales and these people that understand the technology that are buying these, but there\u2019s not a lot of those people,\u201d said Jamie Stevens, Sony Pictures\u2019 head of consumer products and licensing. \u201cSo we really wanted to create an opportunity for our fans to be able to own a piece of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some studios also see an opportunity to take what they\u2019ve done in physical theme park attractions and bring that into the digital world.<\/p>\n

Jenefer Brown, who runs live and location-based entertainment for Santa Monica film and TV studio Lionsgate, envisions a world where fans can enter the world of the \u201cJohn Wick\u201d action franchise and book a room at the Continental Hotel, the action series\u2019 neutral refuge for the criminal underworld. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve dusted off concepts that we\u2019ve come up with, from a physical standpoint, that just couldn\u2019t be built for a variety of reasons, that absolutely could be built in a digital environment,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Buying NFTs is complicated, and experts predict that more consumers will embrace it only as the technology becomes easier to use and understand. <\/p>\n

Right now, the market is frothy with capital pouring in, and many analysts expect it to contract. However, the technology itself is not going anywhere. \u201cNFTs are here to stay,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThey\u2019re just going to evolve, as technology always does.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n