Do not anticipate an apology from the industrial, which incorporates plenty of flowery and constructive language, with out acknowledging Robinhood’s controversial resolution to quickly cease GameStop inventory buys.
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This story initially appeared on PCMag
Robinhood is attempting to win over the general public with a brand new TV advert that’ll air through the Super Bowl. However we’re betting it’ll solely piss folks off.
Robinhood says it created the advert to unfold its message of democratizing finance for everybody. “In that spirit, we’re launching a marketing campaign through the Massive Sport this Sunday in hopes of reaching and empowering hundreds of thousands of individuals with one easy however vital message: We’re all buyers,” the corporate wrote in a Wednesday blog post.
Nevertheless, the advert is fairly mundane. It reveals folks going by way of their on a regular basis lives whereas a voice narrates the corporate’s final message: “You don’t have to turn into an investor, you had been born one.”
However not as soon as does the corporate acknowledge its controversial decision final week to dam inventory buys for GameStop and 7 different firms. Many supporters of the meme stock craze had been counting on Robinhood to buy the shares within the hopes of cashing in. Nevertheless, Robinhood was fast to slam the brakes on the inventory buys, inflicting outrage throughout social media.
The closest the Robinhood advert will get to acknowledging the controversy is when it reveals a lady crying whereas speaking to a pal, presumably as a result of her holdings have simply tanked. “Preserve the large image in perspective,” the corporate narrates over the scene.
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We suspect the advert was in all probability created earlier than the meme inventory craze exploded final week. (In its protection, Robinhood says it needed to cease the inventory buys as a result of it was operating out of money to cowl the transactions.) However, the advertising remains to be a drag as a result of Super Bowl ads are expected to be enjoyable, entertaining, and modern. However the advertising within the Robinhood app is so generic it in all probability could possibly be used to promote nearly any firm.
On the time of this writing, the advert had acquired 483 dislikes versus 19 likes, however that tally now seems to be hidden. Feedback are additionally turned off. However, we anticipate Robinhood’s PR machine to be in excessive gear within the coming weeks because it faces continued scrutiny from the general public and U.S. regulators.