The UK’s advertising watchdog has reportedly banned a series of advertisements from Coinbase, claiming they presented the crypto exchange as a solution to cost-of-living concerns while making light of the risks of investing in crypto.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads — which included a satirical musical-style video and three posters — were “irresponsible” and “trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency,” The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
“We considered that using humour to reference serious financial concerns, alongside a cue to ‘change,’ risked presenting complex, high-risk financial products as an easy or obvious response to those concerns,” the ASA said.
Coinbase released the video advertisement in July, but Clearcast, which approves ads for TV, rejected it, saying it showed crypto as a “potential solution to economic challenges, without sufficient evidence for this claim,” The Telegraph reported in August.
A screenshot from Coinbase’s musically-charged ad depicts the UK as littered with rats and trash. Source: YouTube
Even with the TV ban, the ASA said the video was shown online, while the three posters had been put up in “high-traffic areas such as the London Underground and rail stations.”
The posters included text that read “home ownership out of reach,” “eggs now out of budget,” and “real wages stuck in 2008,” and all included the slogan “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything” next to Coinbase’s logo.
The ASA said none of the advertisements contained information about the risks of crypto. The Financial Conduct Authority has said crypto ads must be “labeled with prominent risk warnings.”
Coinbase CEO defended ad after TV ban
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong defended the TV ad in August, arguing the TV ban meant “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,” he said. “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.”
“We welcome the attacks and any other attempts to censor this message, as it just helps it spread,” Armstrong added.
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The two-minute ad depicts people singing “everything is just fine, everything is grand” as their home crumbles around them, along with scenes showing a dilapidated street overflowing with trash bags and rats amid dancing cleaners.
The video also depicts shoppers singing about rising food costs and workers being fired en masse, and ends with trash raining down on a street superimposed with the text “If everything’s fine, don’t change anything,” before cutting to Coinbase’s logo.
Coinbase did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours.
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