In certain circles on social media this last few weeks there has been uproar, with calls for revolution, that the government is suppressing free speech and many other things. Why?
Because they banned a TV advert in the UK for not following the rules that apply to all adverts.
First, let’s just say it out loud. Wait – they still make TV adverts? In a world of streaming and on demand, I can’t recall watching an ad in years, so there was a certain novelty in watching this one.
Its from…well, I’ll let you watch it, ask you to pause with 10s to go and get you to guess. It’s certainly entertaining, but also pretty poor on a number of levels.
It got banned because it didn’t have the disclosures that any investment product must display. Given the high quality of production, this feels deliberate rather than a massive mistake by the marketeers. Especially as George Osbourne, who was number 2 in the UK government, was a board member until recently. And if it wasn't deliberate, that’s likely the most expensive mistake they’ve ever made.
The message is confusing, but likely to have fallen foul of the regulator further. It seems to imply that they could solve all the societal issues in the country – blatantly untrue – or that you can get rich, and you too could go to Dubai to escape it all. Again, likely to fail because of mis-selling rules.
The CEO was suitably outraged:
Our ad which got banned in the UK by the TV networks has sparked quite a reaction. If you can’t say it, then there must be a kernel of truth in it. Needing to update the system and improve society is not a political statement on either party in the UK (some have tried to turn it into this). And it’s not specific to the UK (we ran ads with similar themes in the US). It’s a statement about how the traditional financial system is not working for many people and how crypto represents a way to improve that. There are people in the UK who still think of crypto as some kind of gambling product (a very outdated view), and have completely missed the potential of crypto which is to update and improve the financial system for the benefit of everyone. We welcome the attacks and any other attempts to censor this message, as it just helps it spread.
One has to wonder if that was the point of the advert then… why didn’t it say that?
Three further points.
One or two former colleagues have had messages from a conservative US friend with the message, in effect, that the UK was ripe for revolution and regime change. Its shocking that senior executives seem to believe what they see in adverts! I do hope though they also believe there is actually a talking gecko selling them insurance .
Second, interesting timing. I note few have raised the advert was released shortly after their earnings call which caused shares to fall 25%, and that they struggled in attempt to launch an issue of more than $2 billion of convertible bonds in the same week.
Third, I asked my non-industry friends who and what the advert was for, and not one person got remotely close. Most thought environmental services like bin collection, and as none had heard of the Coinbase, not one did anything as a result.
Oscar Wilde said: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about.”
In my highly unscientific survey, the advert is only being talked about by crypto converts and the opposing “non-believers”. Regardless of which side you’re on, this doesn’t feel like it’s helping the debate, but instead polarising it which ultimately can’t be a good thing. Antagonising the regulators who holds your fate in their hands does seem to be an odd move.
