QR Code Scores a Touchdown: How Coinbase Brought Crypto to Our Living Rooms

Amy Huang

The Super Bowl is the only time when people get excited for the commercial breaks—and this year’s lineup did not disappoint.

Amidst star-studded advertisements that showcased a mix of humorous and engaging stories, one company stood out by spending their 60 seconds—and $14 million— a little differently.

Coinbase, a cryptocurrency company, made its Super Bowl debut with an ad featuring a color-changing QR code that bounced around the screen in old DVD screensaver fashion. The goal was to direct viewers to its site for a sign-up bonus of $15 in bitcoin and to enter a $3 million giveaway.

It was a simple campaign, yet so effective that the massive influx of traffic during the airing of the ad temporarily crashed Coinbase’s app. Unsurprising, given that more than 100 million viewers were projected to watch the game. Coinbase saw over 20 million visits on their landing page in one minute. WOW!

To summarize, these are the key components that made the Coinbase commercial so effective:

The QR code was highly visible - there is no doubt about this one!
The use of the QR code provided a frictionless consumer experience to get to their dedicated landing page
They had a clear value transfer for the consumer – a reward for signing up for an account