Fortune may favor the brave — but Twitter is not favoring Matt Damon’s crypto commercial right now.
The Oscar-winning “Good Will Hunting” actor became the face of Crypto.com last year. The cryptocurrency exchange app and platform based in Singapore lets users buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies. It signed Damon as part of a $100 million advertising campaign directed by “Inception” cinematographer Wally Pfister, with ads set to air in more than 20 countries. And in another big move, it recently paid a reported $700 million to rename the Los Angeles Staples Center — home of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers — the Crypto.com Arena.
“I’ve never done an endorsement like this,” said Damon, who is also a Crypto.com investor. He told Bloomberg that he’s ready to “ride or die with the economy” — but he’s also not quitting his day job making movies.
That may be just as well. His first Crypto.com spot, “Fortune Favors the Brave,” which has been played in movie previews, during NFL games and shared online since last fall, has not been as well received on Twitter as his box office hits like the “Bourne” movies and “The Martian” have been by viewers.
Damon celebrates bold risk-takers throughout history “who embrace the moment and commit.” He walks past what appears to be a mountain climber summiting Mount Everest, and the Wright brothers taking to the skies in the minute-long spot, before stopping by a red planet, likely Mars.
“And in these moments of truth, these men and women, these mere mortals — just like you and me — as they peer over the edge, they calm their minds and steel their nerves with four simple words that have been whispered by the intrepid since the time of the Romans: Fortune favors the brave,” says Damon. Then “Crypto.com” appears on the screen.
Here’s a few of the most viral reactions to his sales pitch.
This led “Matt Damon” to trend on Twitter in the U.S. on Monday afternoon.
Crypto in general was also off to a rough start in 2022, with most of the largest cryptocurrencies down during morning trading on Monday, including Dogecoin DOGEUSD,