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Highlights
- Solana removes its controversial ad after receiving community backlash.
- The ad was criticized for featuring gender identity themes.
- Solana VP states that not many team members were involved in the ad creation.
In a recent development, the Solana Foundation received criticism for a controversial advertisement that reportedly featured gender identity themes. The promotional ad, which racked up over 1.2 million views, was removed after a nearly nine-hour run.
Despite taking down the contentious ad, Solana continues to face intense scrutiny and criticism from its community. Several users have reposted the video on X, labelling it offensive, divisive, and cringe.
Solana Faces Criticism for Gender Identity Portrayal, Removes Ad
On March 17, the official X account of the Solana Foundation shared a commercial video that portrayed the United States as a man in therapy. The man was shown struggling to concentrate on crypto, space travel, and other technological pursuits due to the distraction of societal debates on pronouns and gender identity.
The promotional ad that reached more than 1.2 million views quickly created a negative reaction within the crypto community for its gender identity portrayal. Tyler Bench, CRO of on-chain governance platform Tally.xyz, expressed strong disgust towards the Solana ad. He deemed that ad as “the single most toxic piece of content” that he has ever seen. Further, Bench compared the ad to Coinbase’s ads, but with a disturbing twist: “created by an incel who hasn’t left the basement in years.”
Why Did the Ad Face Community Backlash?
Notably, Solana’s now-deleted ad presented a man who represented America. The man, who was undergoing a therapy, expressed concerns of his inability to focus on technological aspects including crypto. In response to the man’s worries, the therapist asked him to come up with a “new gender,” sparking controversy.
Significantly, the psychologist’s statement sparked criticism for its perceived political bias and polarizing tone. It conveyed a hint of irony that subtly mocks contemporary discussions on gender identity.
In response to the ad titled “America is Back—Time to Accelerate,” Anneri van der Merwe, product lead at Base, shared an X post, stating,
Offensive, cringe, and pandering. Base is for everyone. Solana co-opted the ‘is for everyone’ phrase last week too. This ad shows there’s still a long way to go in truly embracing that ethos.
Solana Continues to Face Criticism Despite Ad Removal
Though Solana removed the advertisement, the community continues to criticize the team for their tone-deaf post. Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, wondered how the ad cleared multiple review stages without raising any red flags. Following the ad’s removal, Cochran accused that Solana withdrew the post only to mitigate reputational damage, rather than acknowledging the mistake.
Moreover, Blocknative COO Sean O’ Connor strongly condemned the video, addressing it extremely insensitive. He posited that the ad’s timing was particularly inappropriate given the current challenges faced by trans citizens in obtaining legal documentation and recognition.
This controversy comes following the substantial growth of Solana-based Mubarak meme coin. The token hit a market cap of $200 million within two days of its launch.
VP Matt Sorg Defends Solana
In response to the increased backlash, Solana Foundation’s Vice President of Technology Matt Sorg defended the blockchain platform. He revealed today that only a small group within the ecosystem was directly involved in creating the ad.
Further, he championed artistic freedom and human expression, adding that they should not be bound by rigid norms. He stated,
The beauty of humanity is not being constrained to natural randomness or binary robotic output. We are creative, we can beat entropy. Exploring ourselves and our possibilities is not anti-innovation.
It is noteworthy that the incident comes on the heels of increased optimism surrounding President Donald Trump’s inclusion of Solana to the US crypto reserve.
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