For a short time, we considered making a Super Bowl ad — the kind with a large production budget, high polish, and a very clear goal: get attention.
It’s not hard to see the appeal. People talk about those ads. Brands get noticed. Marketing teams point to them as proof that a company has arrived.
Then we looked at the cost.
Seven… eight… sometimes nine million dollars for thirty seconds of airtime.
Thirty seconds.
We realized something —we’re not building GeniusCash to demonstrate scale through advertising. We’re building it to return money to Canadians. And spending that much for that little time didn’t really support that objective.
Once you commit to returning $100 million to Canadians, trade-offs become unavoidable.
Spending millions on a single commercial means those funds aren’t available elsewhere. That isn’t a philosophical issue — it’s a practical one.
So instead of asking “How visible should we be?”, we asked “How can this money do more important work?”
Why we didn’t make the Super Bowl ad
Rather than spending millions on a high-production commercial, we made a simpler video explaining the decision. No celebrities (Keanu was busy anyway). No elaborate production. No claims about transforming an industry.
Just a clear, straightforward explanation of why we chose not to spend that money on a Super Bowl placement.
What we chose to do instead
We’ve committed to returning $100 million to Canadians.
That commitment isn’t theoretical. We’re already $5.6 million in — money already in the hands of Canadians like you. And there’s more where that came from. Quite a lot more, in fact!
Choosing not to make a large advertising purchase isn’t a statement — it’s a budget decision. Every dollar not spent on airtime stays available for distribution.
That’s the entire calculation.
And sure, this approach doesn’t always produce the flashiest outcomes. But it does tend to produce predictable ones.
And now, if you’ll excuse us, there’s still $94.4 million left to give back to Canadians like you.
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