Larry David may not be a fan of much, but he loved being a part of the cryptocurrency platform FTX’s Super Bowl 2022 ad.
The comedian stars in the clip, titled “Don’t Miss Out”, as a time-travelling skeptic who insists he doesn’t see things like travelling to the moon, using an inside toilet, and more going anywhere.
David then says as he’s introduced to FTX: “Ehhh, I don’t think so. And I’m never wrong about this stuff. Never.”
A caption for the ad, which marks David’s first commercial, reads, “Don’t be like Larry… don’t miss out on the next big thing.”
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David’s longtime creative collaborator, Jeff Schaffer, a writer on the star’s sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, tells the Hollywood Reporter of the ad: “We hadn’t done one of these before and we had an absolute blast.
“Never have I spent more hours on one minute and enjoyed every second of it. And Larry, who’s not known to enjoy many things, also loved it.”
He then says of how he got David to agree to be in his first commercial, as well as it being one for a crypto platform: “Larry’s been courted for commercials before, and we’ve taken a look at a lot of different premises. Every time, we would try to spin it somehow so we thought it was funnier. Like, ‘This would be funny but we’d like to do it this way.’ All these [ad people] would say, ‘Well, no, we want to do it the way we want to do it.’ So, we said, ‘That’s fine,’ [and moved on].”
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“This was the first idea that came by that was perfect as it was. Who better than Larry to belittle the sum total of human achievement and be wrong? It was a funny idea and we didn’t have to do another spin.
“He got excited by the idea and that’s what got him to do it. Then we started to think about all the period of time, different inventions and the agency lobbed all these ideas and we were lobbying ideas. At that point, the hard part became winnowing it down to how many we could fit in 60 seconds.”
Schaffer adds of whether they got paid in cash or crypto: “We did ask about getting paid in crypto, but I don’t think they were set up for it for us, which was fine. But we definitely did ask.”
David’s ad got social media talking as it aired during Sunday’s big game. See some of the reaction below.
I’m dying to ask Larry David why he did a crypto commercial but I’m afraid this will happen… pic.twitter.com/ESkzqZV2S3
— Alex Winter (@Winter) February 14, 2022
If only there were a piece of music to describe the feeling of seeing Larry David in a crypto ad
— Daryl Bartley (@hypercubexl) February 14, 2022
The Larry David commercial is the best. Hands down. Period. #SuperBowl #ftx pic.twitter.com/BPhplQ4bds
— Hashsquatch 💨 (@jjah22861) February 14, 2022
Larry David doing Crypto commercials gotta be some form of elder abuse.
— Ahmed/Lakers are dog shit (@big_business_) February 14, 2022
seeing Larry David in a commercial then finding out what it’s for pic.twitter.com/YaE8zgEM9I
— Michael Tannenbaum (@iamTannenbaum) February 14, 2022
Why are people surprised about larry david doing a crypto ad. His whole show was about being an amoral selfish jerk
— Francis McRae (@FrankMcRae) February 14, 2022
Larry David doing a crypto ad has broken my boyfriend, I’m afraid we’ll never recover from this
— Marie Bardi (@mariebardi) February 14, 2022
FTX ad with Larry David wins the #SuperBowlCommercials
— Ed Weeks Jr. MBA 🆙 (@EdWeeksJr) February 14, 2022