Matt Damon is a master of many trades, be it writing, acting, directing, producing, or business, he does it all. Recently, he even became the face of a crypto company, although his association with the company was short-lived, it resulted in severe backlash and criticism. In 2021, the cryptocurrency market experienced soaring prices, but the landscape drastically changed in 2022 with the dramatic collapse of several such companies. As a result, the skepticism around the entire industry is growing day by day.
Thus in a recent interview, Matt Damon clarified his involvement in the 2021 Crypto.com advertisement, stating that his primary motivation for becoming the face of the crypto firm’s marketing campaign was to get financial support for his company water.org, which was not doing well at the moment.
Matt Damon Spoke Out About the Controversial 2021 Super Bowl Crypto Ad
In 2021, Hollywood icon Matt Damon collaborated with Crypto.com for an advertisement titled “Fortune Favors the Brave.” In this ad, Damon drew deemed the industry as a new venture that has the potential to change the world and drew comparisons of the investors taking the plunge as astronauts or mountain climbers. In an interview clip released by Associated Press, Damon said,
“We had a down year in water.org and I did that commercial in an attempt to raise money for water.org,”
He then further elaborated saying,
“I gave my whole salary to water.org because we were down, and Crypto.com heard about that, and they gave $1 million to water.org completely on their own–I definitely have a lot of gratitude to them for what they did for our foundation.”
In October 2021, Crypto.com made an announcement, pledging a direct donation of $1 million to water.org. The main objective behind this generous contribution was to extend support to the nonprofit organization’s mission of providing clean water and sanitation to needy communities. The ad was also featured in the 2022 Super Bowl, which also seemed to push the crypto culture heavily that season given all the companies featured during the much-awaited advertisements segments of the event.
Why Was Matt Damon Under Fire for Appearing in Advertisement?
Following all the hype and rage in 2021, Crypto.com faced significant challenges in 2022 and had to make some tough decisions. The company reportedly underwent a substantial layoff, letting go of 40% of its staff, which was higher than its initial claim of 5% (260 employees) being affected. In January, an additional 20% of the global staff were also let go as part of the company’s restructuring efforts. The CEO of the company also tweeted after the bungle that stated,
“I recognize we have a lot of work to do to help restore trust in the industry. It will take time, but we will get it done.”
With the meteoric rise came a dramatic fall, and thus Damon was accused of not doing proper research and thus in turn promoting a Ponzi scheme. The huge fall that followed after the 2021 rage made many people lose their money and in turn also lose faith in the industry. The writers of the show South Park also took notice of the situation and hence ridiculed the actor as well.
Source: Associated Press
