Be honest: You don’t really understand what cryptocurrency is all about, do you? Sure, you get the basic gist of it. But, much like NFTs, once you get into the nitty-gritty details, your grasp of the topic gets a little bit foggy, right? Why not just use cash or a credit card like a normal person? If this describes your relationship to Bitcoin, you’re not alone. Hell, even Palmer Jackson, the co-creator of Dogecoin, just basically called it all a scam to help conservatives and rich guys like Elon Musk get richer. Which might be why cryptocurrency creators are on a mission to make the concept, and their currencies, more accessible to the masses. And now they’ve enlisted the help of Spike Lee to do just that—and take a swing at the oppressive nature of “old money.”
According to The New York Times, the Oscar-winning filmmaker isn’t about to let the cryptocurrency craze pass him by. “Anytime something is new, you’re going to have people who are going to be skeptical,” says the Do the Right Thing writer-director. “With some of the best ideas, people thought the inventors were crazy.” (Interesting side note: Lee’s interest in cryptocurrency is partly motivated by his lack of interest in investing in Crocs—yes, the shoes—and losing a lot of money because of it.) So Lee is going all-in on the cryptocurrency craze.
As part of a new partnership with Coin Cloud, a company that manufactures ATM-like kiosks for buying and selling various types of crytopcurrency, including Bitcoin, Lee directed and stars in a new commercial for the brand. Lee plays up his rebellious reputation to make it clear that cryptocurrency is the future of currency itself, noting that: “Our currency is not current. Old money, as rich as it looks, is flat-out broke. Don’t believe me? I’ve got receipts.”
https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz/status/1415428773680386051?s=20
Another problem with our current cash system, according to Lee? It’s both racist and misogynistic.
“They call it green, but it’s only white. Where’s the women? The Black folks? And the people of color? Native Americans got a nickel—a nickel! People don’t even stop to pick up a nickel off the sidewalk. Seven million people have no bank accounts!”
While all of this may be true, is cryptocurrency really the answer? Lee claims yes. “Old money is not going to pick us up—it pushes us down, exploits, and systematically oppresses,” he says. “But new money? New money is positive, inclusive, fluid, strong, and culturally rich.”
It’s a bold campaign for selling a digital currency that few people understand, but maybe it sort of works? Although some well known Bitcoin proponents like Peter McCormack are disappointed.
So close but yet so far…this Spike Lee ad could have been brilliant but in the end it tells you nothing.
It missed one very important word.https://t.co/ng5guwWjj7
— Peter McCormack🏴☠️ (@PeterMcCormack) July 14, 2021
(Via The New York Times)
