What Was That Weird Super Bowl QR Code Commercial?

"Less talk, more Bitcoin" turned into something else temporarily

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.

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

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