Robinhood is showing his first Super Bowl ad, just as the company faces a growing brand crisis. CNBC reports that the commercial marks the biggest campaign of the Robinhood brand and focuses on the idea that anyone can be an investor. This has been at the heart of Robinhood’s message since it was founded seven years ago, but recent inventory restrictions have undermined the entire Robinhood brand.
Robinhood temporarily banned small investors from buying shares in companies like GameStop last week, before placing restrictions on shares associated with r / WallStreetBets – including GameStop, AMC and Nokia. The move angered thousands of Robinhood customers who were trying to buy shares, and the company’s app was bombarded with criticism on the Google Play Store. Although Google initially tried to rescue the app’s rating, it dropped to just one star yesterday.
Robinhood is also facing dozens of lawsuits over the freezing of GameStop shares, and Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also asked Congress to investigate the Robinhood app. Robinhood says the restrictions were put in place because clearing houses suddenly demanded much higher deposits, but the company did not specifically explain the cryptocurrency restrictions it also put in place.
This new Super Bowl commercial does not address any controversy surrounding Robinhood now, making it somewhat strangely timed. CNBC reports that the director of marketing for Robinhood, Christina Smedley, says that the ad was designed to let people know more about the app. “It looked like this was a great time to remind people about what we stand for and to remind people about why the company was created in the first place,” said Smedley.
Robinhood has disabled comments on the commercial version of YouTube, but a version on Twitter is already seeing negative responses to this new Super Bowl ad.