After asking people to sing at the Super Bowl, crypto trading platform Coinbase will be asking people to break all the rules during the Oscars.
A new, visually striking spot, which will air during ABC’s Oscars telecast on Sunday, March 15, urges viewers to stop acting like they’re non-player characters in a video game. Characters are characters who do not have any independence and must act according to a predetermined code or script. The company hopes viewers will want to break free from established systems, including the financial system, and want more control as new products are rolled out over the rest of the year.
“We don’t want our work to be predictable in any way,” Kat Fardon, the company’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview Thursday. The key, she says, is to design bespoke commercials for specific occasions. Coinbase’s commercial during the Super Bowl was made to look like a lo-fi karaoke screen in a bar, targeting an audience that was partying in the moment. The new campaign will appear throughout the year, and executives hope the distinctive look will keep consumers coming back for more.
In the streaming era, advertisers are increasingly concerned about consumers seeing their ads over and over again, as interactive broadband hubs use algorithms to deliver more targeted commercials. Coinbase’s effort is full of little nuances designed to emulate the video game experience, and people might welcome a second look instead of cringing after seeing that spot for the 15th time in just a few days.
Surprisingly, much of the set design and actors’ looks are natural and not the result of over-the-top special effects, said Joe Staples, vice president of creative at Coinbase.
“It has very little effect,” Staples said. “It was just a matter of working with the choreographer and set designer to figure out what was the purest way to do this.”
Disney has sought between $1.7 million and $2.2 million for 30-second ads at events in recent years, but as of Thursday afternoon, it had not declared a sale of commercial inventory. Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, told Variety in January that sales were “definitely on pace to exceed last year.” Disney’s 2025 Oscars telecast attracted an average of 19.7 million viewers, 1% higher than its 2024 attendance.
Hopefully, viewers will be “a little confused” by how the ad was created and want to see it again, Staples said.
