FTX users name Mercedes F1 team and MLB in new promo lawsuits

baseball

The group of FTX users is taking aim at Mercedes F1 and Major League Baseball for allegedly helping FTX commit fraud by promoting the crypto exchange on its platforms.

Mercedes-Benz Formula One team and Major League Baseball helped FTX perpetrate fraud through promotional deals with the crypto exchange, according to a group of FTX users in a new lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, consisting of FTX users, filed twin class-action suits in a Florida District Court on Nov. 27, accusing the firms of “aiding and abetting and/or actively participating in the FTX Group’s massive, multibillion-dollar global fraud” and promoting unregistered securities.

In 2021, the Mercedes F1 team signed a promotional deal with FTX which saw the exchange’s logo emblazoned on cars, uniforms, hats and other materials. The MLB signed a similar deal that same year — the first pro sports league to do so — which saw umpires don FTX’s logo on their uniforms.

“The centerpiece, and most important feature, of the partnership, however, was the inclusion of FTX.US patches on all MLB umpire uniforms,” wrote the class complaint filing. “The FTX.US patches marked the first time in the history of MLB, which dates back to the 1800s, that a sponsor brand has had its logo appear on umpire uniforms.”

The rare double logo shot https://t.co/OLE7P8iY1N
— FTX (@FTX_Official) July 18, 2021

The complaint against Mercedes F1 was similar, saying the team showcased FTX’s logo in prominent locations on its cars, merchandise and marketing.

FTX also “regularly cheered on and congratulated” Mercedes F1 and its drivers, which the lawsuit said created a “veneer of trustworthiness with Mercedes F1 fans.”

“This ploy would not have been as effective were it not for Mercedes F1’s parallel promotions of FTX,” the complaint said.

Details @FTX_Official pic.twitter.com/3trhANWTCV
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 24, 2021

The same group of FTX users is also still suing a list of celebrities who promoted the exchange, including former sports stars Shaquille O’Neal and Tom Brady, citing similar allegations of promoting unregistered securities.

Many celebrities named in the lawsuits have attempted to have the suit against them dismissed, saying they didn’t encourage depositing money onto FTX. At least three — professional American footballer Trevor Lawrence and YouTubers Kevin Paffrath and Tom Nash — have settled their lawsuits.

FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven charges relating to fraud, conspiracy and money laundering earlier in November.

Just over a year after inking the deal, the MLB canned its five-year promotional contract with FTX shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.

Mercedes F1 similarly binned its deal with FTX the same year and removed its logo from its cars and merchandise.

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Floki Inu resumes controversial ad blitz in London

bus ads

The new campaign spanning buses and train stations across the city comes only a few weeks after regulators banned the previous ads from a marketing run Floki Inu conducted in 2021.

Dogecoin rival Floki Inu has begun what it calls an “aggressive” marketing campaign in London, plastering advertisements around the city’s train stations and on its famous red buses.

Floki Inu announced the new campaign in an April 23 blog noting that “the people’s cryptocurrency” will start advertising on the side of 100 buses and on 203 posters in the city’s underground train stations starting from Monday April 25.

#FLOKI's new and aggressive London campaign will start tomorrow Monday, April 25.$FLOKI to be featured on:

- 100 buses across the streets of London.
- 203 strategic placements across London Underground.

These ads will be seen tens of millions of times!

Get ready for impact! pic.twitter.com/hBanvs8eu2
— FLOKI (@RealFlokiInu) April 24, 2022

The new campaign for the memecoin comes after a similar marketing blitz late in 2021 which caused a stir with London assembly member Sian Berry, who sought to ban all cryptocurrency advertisements on the city's rail and bus networks.

Floki Inu’s last campaign featured signs which read “Missed Doge? Get Floki.” In November, Berry posted a tweet likening cryptocurrencies to gambling, adding that public services should not advertise “risky” schemes.

Like gambling ads, which we have finally got the Mayor to remove, there is no way our public services should be used to advertise these unregulated, risky schemes to Londoners. I asked for a ban in July and I am still pushing.

https://t.co/i7EBxfbGrV
— Sian Berry (@sianberry) November 14, 2021

The campaign received so much negative attention that the UK’s Advertising and Standards Authority (ASA) intervened, banning the ad in a ruling on March 2 as it “exploited consumers' fears of missing out, trivialized investment in cryptocurrency and took advantage of consumers’ inexperience.”

However, Sabre, the pseudonymous moniker for Floki Inu’s Director of Marketing emphasized in the announcement that the team has no intentions of standing down despite the regulatory push back:

“In a sense this second London campaign is an even bigger win for Floki and the crypto industry as a whole than the first, as our team has fought for the right to advertise our groundbreaking project to the public.”

"Some wanted us banned here entirely, and the anti-crypto agenda continues to come thick and fast through smear campaigns and misinformation. The Floki Team will always stand our ground no matter what," they added.

Earlier this year in January, the ASA continued with a raft of bans on crypto firms advertising in the UK. The regulator halted two advertisements from Crypto.com which promoted the ease of purchasing Bitcoin and earning yield rewards as they did not state the risk of the investment.

In mid-December 2021, six crypto firms were hit with ad bans by the ASA for “taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience” and also failing to demonstrate the risk of crypto investing.

crypto marketing