Sure, the Super Bowl is the stage for the two best teams in the NFL to go head to head. But it’s also a huge stage for advertisers. One of the most intriguing Super Bowl of 2022 commercials came before halftime.
Did the bouncing QR code in changing colors confuse you, too? Meet the Coinbase Super Bowl commercial.
If you aren’t familiar, QR codes are scannable squares like barcodes. When you hold your cellphone’s camera or a QR code-reader up to the square, you’ll be able to open a webpage in your browser.
If you weren’t fast enough to scan the code – or missed the full blue screen that temporarily appeared after the QR code went away – the bouncing, colorful QR code was an ad for Coinbase.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
Coinbase is a digital platform that lets you buy and sell cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.
Scanning the QR code that played on screen leads to an offer on Coinbase’s website for $15 in free Bitcoin when you sign up for the platform.
Coinbase’s ad is likely just the first cryptocurrency-related commercial you’ll see during the Big Game. Cryptocurrency exchanges have reportedly been shelling out top dollar to run ads during the Super Bowl, according to the Wall Street Journal.