By
Tolu Ajiboye
March 22nd, 2024
Reddit’s huge bet might have been viewed as too risky but the company’s popular logo that was visible at the bottom of the ad made all the difference.
Social media giant Reddit Inc blew up its entire marketing budget on a five-second WallStreetBets-inspired super bowl live ad on Sunday. Reportedly, Reddit spent close to $1 million on the ad that was challenging for anyone to read it all during the game.
However, the company noted it was worth it by all means as the message reached the intended audience at the right time. The ad that was titled “Wow, this actually worked” revolved around last week’s stock market frenzy. With the GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) stock rallying astronomically fueled by retail investors, the longtime underestimated retail investors felt empowered.
“One thing we learned from our communities last week is that underdogs can accomplish just about anything when they come together around a common idea,” the message reads.
The ad further went ahead to explain how Reddit offers a perfect platform for people to unite and achieve their intended goals:
“Powerful things happen when you rally around things you really care about. And there’s a place for that. It’s called Reddit.”
Reddit’s huge bet might have been viewed as too risky but the company’s popular logo that was visible at the bottom of the ad made all the difference.
Reddit and WallStreetBets at the Super Bowl
The Super bowl is an American annual championship game hosted by the National Football League (NFL). The game, which has been played on the first Sunday in February since 2004, involved the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that ended with a 9-31 score respectively.
Following the stock market speculation frenzy in GameStop, AMC, Nokia among others, WallStreetBets has become so popular among retail investors. The collective retail power managed to squeeze GameStop stocks from trading below $10 at the tail end of last year to an all-time high of around $500. However, after the intervention by Robinhood and the regulators to halt trading on the affected stocks, most of the involved stocks have dropped significantly in the past few days.
With the stock market regulated on the amount of stock to purchase in a bull rally, the WallStreetBets has turned into the crypto market industry that is less controlled by individual governments. Over the weekend, retail traders have gathered momentum over Dogecoin following Elon Musk‘s endorsement and backing by WallStreetBets. Hereby, the asset has almost doubled and managed to enter the top 10 digital assets by market capitalization.
Reddit being a private company significantly benefited from the stock market speculation frenzy in the past few weeks. With almost 50% of its users from the United States, it is perhaps clear why the company spent its entire marketing budget on a five seconds ad.