The non-fungible token (NFT) reached a fever pitch in the past year. Artists and musicians managed to command high sums for their digital assets. It was only a matter of time before big companies found a way to jump aboard the NFT craze. There are currently several brands using NFTs in innovative ways, although their success varies.
Read on as we discuss seven major brands using NFTs in an interesting fashion.
The Big Brands Using NFTs
1. Atari
Atari has a checkered past. They single-handedly brought home console gaming to the masses. They then followed this by saturating the market, almost destroying the industry in the process.
This was followed by a run of products that never lived up to the hype and multiple changes in ownership. The brand was taken over by Infogrames Games in the early noughties, who later changed to Atari SA. Their biggest foray into the gaming world was with the recently relaunched VCS console.
Since then, the brand has not stopped at gaming. In 2020 Atari gained a license to create an online casino that used cryptocurrency. It then created its own coin, Atari Token, and as you guessed, a range of non-fungible tokens.
The products are 3D models of its major games, mainly Centipede and Pong. Ten of the original cartridges were black with the other 100 red. The first person to buy the Centipede NFT received an original Centipede arcade cabinet, though it has not been confirmed who this was.
2. Taco Bell
For Europeans, Taco Bell is something of an enigma. There are a paltry 440 restaurants spread across seven countries on the continent. Yet the 7,000 eateries across the US have helped it garner a cult status via movies and television.
For anyone not familiar, the restaurant chain serves a variety of Mexican cuisine-inspired dishes, from tacos to burritos. Founded in 1962, they were later bought by Pepsi and then given to its restaurant division, Yum! Brands.
In March of this year, Taco Bell announced it was releasing a series of NFTs on Rarible. There were 25 tokens in all, many of which were GIFs incorporating taco designs. The company also announced proceeds would be donated to charity through the Taco Bell Foundation.
3. Bratz Dolls
Unless you were a teenage girl in the noughties, it may be hard to comprehend the impact Bratz dolls had. The all-American, perfect-bodied Barbie became an unrealistic role model even to children. To knock her off her pedestal required a band of new contenders.
Ethnically diverse, fashionable, and with a whole lot of attitude, Bratz dolls arrived on the scene. The four original dolls were so popular that they soon had spin-off lines, their own cartoons, and music.
In a crypto market currently overrun by men, bringing out a Bratz NFT was a bold move. A collaboration between owners MGA Entertainment and Animoca, the NFT’s coincided with the release of a Bratz-based cryptogame.
A series of collectible cards, they each contain a character from the franchise. They come in five rarity levels, the highest of which is “shimmering”. There are also plans to release a similar fan token in 2021.
4. Charmin
There are a lot of critics of the NFT, and when they say the craze may have gone too far, sometimes it is hard to disagree with them. This entry is one of the most off-the-wall brands using NFTs.
Charmin is a brand of toilet paper. Their NFTs were limited in number, with one NFT available for each of five designs. They are an animated GIF of a toilet roll unfolding, decorated with their bear mascot.
Everyone who purchases an NFT gets a physical display, so they can hang the GIF in their actual toilet. Why you would want to do that is unknown. Charmin has said that sales of the NFT will go towards the Direct Relief charity.
5. Panini
Panini is a huge publishing house, known for printing comics, sticker albums, and trading cards. If you grew up in the UK, then your football (soccer) sticker albums were a thing of legend. Whole playground wars would erupt over who promised to trade rare stickers for the much sought after, holographic “shinies”.
It stands to reason that Panini would enter into the world of selling NFTs. It is not a hard task to digitize what they do anyway. With such a huge company, they already had many of the brand contracts in place.
And big names Panini has in abundance. They are currently putting out NBA, NFL, LaLiga, and other major sports brand trading cards as NFTs. They even have a contract for collegiate sports.
6. Nike
While some NFTs are ill-thought-out and hyped, Nike could have one of the most interesting forays into the market. Their Cryptokicks patent took everything great about sneakerhead culture. It then fused it with all the exciting elements of an NFT.
Cryptokicks use an NFT that ties to a physical purchase. When you buy the actual sneakers, you get the digital version as well. If the sneakers get sold again, the NFT goes with it.
However, Nike added another dimension. Taking their cues from the online world of CryptoKitties, Nike allows you to splice the sneakers together. This creates a unique pair of digital sneakers unavailable anywhere else, letting you breed new designs.
7. Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group seems to be diving headfirst into the world of the NFT. Its biggest move has been to partner with Genies, a company that creates digital avatars and clothing, which it aims to design for its talent.
Genies have already created these for other artists, such as Rihanna and Justin Bieber. The concept is that a user creates a digital persona of themselves. This can then be placed on social media using their partnership with Giphy. Items such as tattoos, clothing, and apparel can then be purchased and added.
It is not the only way Warner is getting in on the field. They also own a stake in Dapper Labs, makers of the NBA Top Shot NFT series – one of the unique ways brands have monetized NFTs.
The Future of Brands Leveraging NFTs
The NFT fervor may have died off somewhat in the last few months. However, like any subculture that is being adopted by the mainstream, it is certain to rise again. Who do you think will be the next big brands using NFTs to boost their profile (and bottom line)? Will major brands choose to build their presence on BitClout, the crypto social network with promise to evolve into an NFT platform? Let us know in the comments.
