• by Todd Wasserman , February 10, 2022

In 2000, more than a dozen dot-com companies ran Super Bowl ads. A few months after the game, Pets.com, one of the flashiest dot-coms to advertise in the game, went bust. Others, including Epidemic.com, Lifeminders.com, Ourbeginning.com, Netpliance.com, E-Stamp.com, e1040.com and OnMoney.com, went belly-up years after the game.

In 2022, we’re seeing a much smaller echo of the Dot-Com Bowl, as three cryptocurrency firms plan to advertise in the big game. Given the small number of advertisers, Super Bowl 56’s wave of advertisers might be likened to Super Bowl 54’s Rainbow Wave of ads featuring LGBTQ representation, or the mini-wave of patriotic ads after the 9-11 attacks in the 2002 Super Bowl.

The three crypto advertisers announced so far are FTX, which plans a 60-second ad in the first half, via Dentsu McGarryBowen; Crypto.com, whose ad hasn’t been given a time slot yet; and Coinbase Global.

The pledges to advertise during the big game come as polls show just a small fraction of the public has invested in cryptocurrencies. In a November Pew Research Center survey, 86% of respondents said they had heard at least a bit about cryptocurrencies, 24% had heard a lot and 16% had personally invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency. That’s up from 2015, when just 1% of respondents said yes to the latter question.

The Pew research found that 31% of Americans aged 18 to 29 have invested, and men are twice as likely as women to have done so.

The male audience for cryptocurrencies helps explain why the Super Bowl is a prime target, though the game has been losing younger viewers for the past decade or so. Concurrently, the communal viewing experiences once exemplified by the Super Bowl appear to be sunsetting.

That explains why this is no repeat of the Dot-Com Bowl. But here’s a closer look at the crypto advertisers in the game:

FTX:  The crypto exchange is planning to give away Bitcoin as part of its ad. The exact amount depends on when the ad runs. If it runs at 8:50 p.m., then FTX will give away 8.5 BTC (about $372,000, based on Bitcoin’s value on Feb. 9). If the ad runs at 11 p.m., the amount will increase to 11 BTC ($482,000). The prize will be split between four people, who need FTX.us accounts to claim their prize. FTX has rolled out teasers including one featuring an actor playing Thomas Edison -- who is also hoping to win some Bitcoin.

Crypto.com: Few details have yet emerged about Crypto.com’s Super Bowl ad. The company previously invested in an ad campaign with Matt Damon.

Coinbase Global: Very little is known about the ad from Coinbase Global. The Wall Street Journalreported earlier this week that the company will be running an ad. In May 2021, The Martin Agency was named agency of record for the firm. Rapper Nas has a stake in the company worth at least $40 million,  according to Forbes.