• by Erik Oster , February 22, 2024

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase has won Liquid Death’s eBay auction that offered brands the opportunity for the “biggest ad ever” through “tiny billboards” on the brand’s packaging.

Launched around the Super Bowl, the beverage brand hyped an opportunity to place an ad on its packaging, claiming that the 200 million people who shop its products in stores easily  surpasses a Super Bowl broadcast audience of 110 million. Such widespread national exposure, the brand promised, could help sell everything from RVs, to snake insurance, to “scam-free cryptocurrency.”

It seems the crypto mention ended up somewhat predictive. Coinbase won the auction for the ad placement, with a winning bid of $500,114. According to a recent article onFinancesOnline, that would make it the tenth most expensive eBay auction ever – right behind the $577,610 sale of the bat used by baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Along the way, the auction saw some fierce competition among a field of brands – as well as  some counter-marketing around Liquid Death’s campaign from a category competitor, with Coca-Cola's Smartwater buying a banner ad on Liquid Death's eBay listing.

According to Liquid Death, Dude Wipes (which engaged in some alternative Super Bowl advertising of its own) set the original max bid of $222,222, automatically bidding above others up to that figure, which was then eclipsed when Dan-O's Seasoning bid $223,000 after launching its own auction for the “Smallest Ad Ever” on a single bottle of its seasoning.

So why did Coinbase decide the placement was worth the price tag?

Liquid Death is an “internet native” brand with a cult following that understands how to deliver big, attention-grabbing marketing ideas, according to Coinbase CMO Kate Rouch.

“It’s no accident that they thought outside (inside?) the box, or that we saw this idea for the genius it was,” Rouch added in a statement. “With 52 million Americans already owning crypto, the chance to directly engage with our audience in new, immersive ways got us excited.”