In FTX’s Super Bowl spot, Larry David, known for his curmudgeonly skepticism, plays a man who dismisses some of the most profound inventions throughout history. The wheel, the fork, the trajectory codes to get humans to space, and of course crypto, Larry dismisses them all.

After a misguided waltz through history, we end with a warming “Don’t Be Like Larry” and encourage everyone get in on the next big thing, crypto with FTX.

Crypto is teetering on the edge of mass adoption. Despite having the fastest adoption curve of any new technology ever (yes ever), crypto is still something that only 16% of Americans had dabbled in, in 2021.

The problem was - for most Americans - crypto was perceived to be for the few (not me). It sat at the intersection of too good to be real and too real to ignore. As a result, most people were sitting on the sidelines waiting for the time to be right.

Reinforcing mass hesitation was the cultural conversation and competitor marketing at the time, which only served to deepen the cultural perceptions of crypto - mysterious, complex, intimidating and out of reach - that had most people on the sidelines in the first place.

We follow one character as they travel through history, including different costumes, facial hair, wigs and locations. So, we wanted to use an actor the audience could easily track despite their constantly changing appearance.

We wanted someone who added to the idea, a celebrity known for being dismissive, someone famous for their sense of doubt, an actor iconic for their skepticism, and that’s when we hit on the idea of casting Larry David.

Throughout Larry’s career, from Seinfeld to Curb Your Enthusiasm, his humor has been marked by its sense of hesitation and suspicion, which are the exact feelings that many people understandably have about cryptocurrency. Using Larry as a cautionary tale made the script click and impossible to imagine with any other actor. We immediately set out to do whatever we could to get Larry, including allowing him – in true Larry form – to be skeptical of crypto.