PayPal Blocks Bitcoin Parody of Super Bowl Commercial

A parody of a PayPal Super Bowl commercial that was posted on YouTube has been blocked by the Internet payments company.

AccessTimeIconFeb 11, 2016 at 3:18 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 4:34 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

A parody of a PayPal Super Bowl commercial that was posted on YouTube has been blocked by the payments company.

The video advertisement, PayPal's first promotion during the popular American sporting event, positions the firm as “New Money” versus the more archaic “Old Money".

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • According to the Wall Street Journal, after bitcoin supporters became "riled" at the ad's claim, Shiloh Silverman, owner of video production firm Silver Park Studio, made a new version of the video. His spoof cut in images of people using bitcoin and replaced “PayPal” with “Bitcoin is newer money”.

    However, after Silverman posted the video to YouTube, PayPal objected, and the parody was blocked as of Monday.

    “Our vision of New Money includes Bitcoin,” a PayPal spokesperson wrote in an email to WSJ. “But to avoid customer confusion, we asked them for the video to be removed.”

    The payments firm also claimed that the "imitation" commercial was "the sincerest form of flattery", and further suggested it proved people were excited by its ad concept.

    Silverman, who has since published a new parody of the PayPal ad, told the news source:

    “I’m not a bitcoin fanatic, I just love the whole world of it.”

    Bitcoin friendly

    While PayPal primarily conducts its business in fiat currencies, the company is not averse to bitcoin.

    The firm recently appointed CEO of bitcoin firm Xapo to its board, and in September 2014 notably set up partnerships with three major payment processors in the bitcoin space – BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin.

    Although the online e-commerce pioneer did not integrate bitcoin into its services directly, PayPal allows online merchants to accept bitcoin via the three companies through its Braintree payments hub.

    Image via Shutterstock

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.