"You In?"

12 September 2021

86s

Best of frenemies

Supermodel and activist Gisele Bündchen and her husband, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, are on a mission in this entertaining commercial for crypto exchange FTX. The high-profile duo are phoning around to find out who's interested in investing, and having presumably exhausted friends and family, they are contacting some of Tom's old adversaries.

You need a firm grip on NFL culture to get some of the gags... Fireman Ed, the fellow wearing a green jersey and a firefighter's hat, for example, is a diehard New York Jets fan, the team that were Brady's bitterest rivals during his lengthy tenure with the New England Patriots... but the jokes land well enough thanks to super central performances coaxed by director Matt Aselton.

The ad teases the audience by hinting at a guest appearance from Bill Belichick – the Patriots coach who decided that Brady was surplus to requirements at the end of the 2019 campaign. But it was not to be, and the ill-feeling towards Brady emanating from his former team is represented instead by barkeeper with a thick Boston accent... who isn't quite as mad at his former hero as he initially appears to be.

Bündchen and Brady have equity in FTX so this a different level of celebrity endorsement, as the power duo have skin in the game.

With this area of financial services still tending to prompt wariness in the average investor, it's likely to prove shrewdly reassuring to see that these two are on board.

USA

Financial Services