This Simple Super Bowl Ad Gave Us a Lesson in Connecting With the Past

Why was a floating QR code the most talked-about ad on social media?

Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels

According to digital research firm, Brandwatch, the brand that “won” the Super Bowl this year was the one that ran the simplest advertisement.

The sixty-second ad was a color-changing QR code bouncing across a black screen to an electronica soundtrack that could have been straight out of Stranger Things. It was so simple it almost seemed like an error.

But it was definitely no mistake. The ad earned its owner, Coinbase, more social media mentions during the game than any other Super Bowl advertiser — a whopping 79,000 mentions on Twitter alone.

But why?

Sweet nostaglic escape

A few weeks ago, I was feeling really nostalgic for my childhood.

I remembered how much fun I used to have hanging out with my Dad in his shed. There was hammering, drilling, sawing and the constant smell of oil…