No one would have thought of the power of Reddit users until January! Last month, they gave large hedge funds a run for their money. And this time, the WallStreetBets (subreddit thread) is creating a Super Bowl advertisement to “sh*t on the Robinhood app” after the company blocked GameStop trading.
WallStreetBets is a Reddit group with several million members who share trading tips about how to beat “the system”. Last month, Redditors bought a lot of Gamestop stocks and inflated the share price. And that caused a huge loss to large hedge funds. (If you are confused and want to know what exactly happened then click here)
But Robinhood, a popular stock-trading app, put limits on customers’ trading and even sold some shares without notice, after stocks for GameStop, AMC, and other struggling companies shot up.
And to repair damage caused to its reputation, Robinhood is planning to run an ad on Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast.
This Sunday’s ad carries the tagline, “We are all investors.” In a blog post, Robinhood said its goal with the campaign is “reaching and empowering millions of people.”
But members of subreddit r/wallstreetbets were in a fighting mood. They argued that there’s a disconnect between the ad’s celebration of retail investors (theoretically like them) and the fact that Robinhood prevented them from buying GameStop shares just last week.
In one of the posts, the user mentions buying the ad space and ‘shit on Robinhood’. “TL;DR fuck Robinhood let’s buy super bowl ad space and shit on them,” reads the post.
And to do so, they have started to raise money. It’s also raised the support of actor Leslie David Baker, known for playing Stanley Hudson on The Office.
Also read: 16 Things Every ‘The Office’ Fan Needs to Get Their Hands On NOW!
“I would love to help you all make this happen,” he posted on Reddit. “If this is something you’re seriously considering let me know, my team and I will use all resources at our disposal to get us the advertisement, shoot it, get the talent, crew, and get it out in time for Super Bowl. You have my full support! 💎🙌🏽”
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe – titled “WallStreetBets Superbowl Commercial” – has raised more than $29,000 of its $6million goal since being launched on Wednesday.
If the crowdfunding page raises its goal of $6million, the GoFundMe explains: “$5.5million will buy a 30-second ad during the Superbowl and cement WSB in the history books.
“GoFundMe takes a cut off of $0.30+2.9%, figure that takes $6 million down to 5.808 million.“
However, if not enough money is raised, the GoFundMe page insisted “all money will be refunded. No funds will be withdrawn from the GoFundMe account. I am not an expert on this platform but welcome any suggestions to verify this,” the page reads.
“If money has to be spent on production (I can’t imagine for what but can’t exclude the possibility) that amount will be deducted proportionally from refunds before they are issued.”
Note to self: do not p*ss off Redditors.
What are your thoughts?
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Reddit Users Gave Large Hedge Funds A Run For Their Money & Here’s How Netizens Reacted