Larry David FTX Super Bowl Ad

2022

Date: February 13, 2022 · Place: Super Bowl LVI, NBC, SoFi Stadium broadcast · Figures: Larry David, actor and writer · Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX CEO · Wieden+Kennedy, agency · Tags: Super Bowl, TV Ad, Top Signal, FTX 01. Don't Miss Out on the Next Big Thing FTX pays roughly $30 million for a 60-second Super Bowl slot. Larry David plays a contrarian who rejects the wheel, the fork, the toilet, the lightbulb, the Declaration of Independence, the Walkman, and finally FTX. The tagline lands as 'don't be like Larry.' The spot is one of seven crypto ads in Super Bowl LVI, alongside Crypto.com, eToro, and Coinbase. The broadcast is later called the Crypto Bowl. 02. Nine Months to Bankruptcy FTX files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11 2022, 271 days after the ad airs. The spot is replayed continuously through the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. Larry David is named in a class-action suit alongside Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, and Shaquille O'Neal for promoting unregistered securities. The ad is now a permanent index entry for the celebrity-endorsement top of every market. Every crypto Super Bowl ad since 2023 is held against the Larry David precedent. Sources • FTX / Wieden+Kennedy, 'Don't Miss Out,' Super Bowl LVI spot, February 13 2022 • Tiffany Hsu, 'Crypto Goes Big at the Super Bowl,' The New York Times, February 14 2022 • Garrison v. Bankman-Fried, class-action complaint, Southern District of Florida, November 15 2022