Crypto currency website crashes following Super Bowl commercial

Outside of the game itself, crypto currency and nostalgia took center stage during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Superstars like Larry David and LeBron James appeared in ads hocking crypto, but the crypto ad that made the most noise didn’t feature any celebrities. In fact, it didn’t feature much of anything. An ad for Coinbase simply featured a QR code slowly bouncing around the screen for nearly a minute with music playing in the background. A bold choice, and it worked. So many people scanned the QR code that the site crashed. The fact that Coinbase spent millions on the commercial but not enough to keep the site from crashing was not lost on the viewers.

As for the nostalgia, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers both reprised roles from the nineties. In an ad for Verizon, Carrey showed up as the more-than-slightly creepy cable guy, who apparently just learned about wireless. Myers, for GM, appeared as Dr. Evil, along with Seth Green and Rob Lowe, and others from Austin Powers. Like in the movies, Dr. Evil and Scott (Green) weren’t getting along to say the least.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- I call it the wheel.

- Eh, I don't think so. This is a miss.

KYLIE MAR: Outside of the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI, ads for cryptocurrency ruled the airwaves Sunday. Superstars like Larry David and LeBron James appeared in ads hawking crypto. But maybe the biggest commercial of all was for a company called Coinbase. The reaction to their ad caused the app to crash, and it was nearly a minute of not much at all.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Viewers found the irony of spending millions on a Super Bowl ad, but not doing enough to keep the site from crashing pretty funny, while others just loved it when the QR code perfectly hit the corner of the screen. Outside of crypto, nostalgia was front and center, with Jim Carrey diving back into a role from 1996 for Verizon.

- Cable guy!

- No thanks, I don't need cable. I have Verizon 5G internet.

- Never heard of it.

- 5G ultra wideband? It's way better.

- I see. So somehow, your home is connected to Verizon's ultra-fast 5G network wirelessly.

- And sticking with the '90s, in a commercial for General Motors, Mike Myers reprised his role as Dr. Evil, along with the rest of the gang from "Austin Powers".

- I will help save the world first, then take over the world.

- She literally just said that.

- Scott, you just don't get it, do you?

- What? Oh, we're right back here? I thought-- you can't draw me into these little-- you act like a child! You can't push my buttons anymore!

- Stop!

- Ow!