What Was That Weird Super Bowl QR Code Commercial?

That Super Bowl QR code commercial actually proved too popular for its own good.

Remember the bare-bones commercial featured during the big game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, in which a QR code bounced around the screen for a minute? If you’re wondering what that was all about, we have the answer via The Verge: Cryptocurrency company Coinbase was running a Super Bowl promotion.

“When scanned, the code brought viewers to Coinbase’s promotional website, offering a limited-time promotion of $15 worth of free Bitcoin to new sign-ups, along with a $3 million giveaway that customers can enter,” The Verge’s Chaim Gartenberg wrote.

ICYMI 👀

Now that we have your attention we'd like to announce that we're giving away $15 in BTC to anyone who joins Coinbase by 2/15.

Click below for more info and RT to tell your friends!

Sign up and see terms here → https://t.co/fKHisXZJJc pic.twitter.com/SDWUup2Ql5

— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 14, 2022

That’s when the problem started for Coinbase, as legions of viewers scanned the code, and many tried to take advantage of the promotion. The sudden explosion of popularity crashed Coinbase’s app temporarily, making the company’s “Less talk, more Bitcoin,” campaign more like “less talk, no Bitcoin.”

NESN’s big game coverage is presented by Berkshire Bank