Once a breakout non-fungible token (NFT) project during the 2021 crypto boom, Pudgy Penguins is turning to real-world visibility with a high-profile ad placement at the Las Vegas Sphere during Christmas week.
Only a few crypto-related brands have secured ad space at the Sphere, a massive LED-covered venue known for its immersive displays and performances by acts like U2 and the Eagles. A bitcoin-focused activation ran in July, but other examples have been rare.
Pudgy Penguins’ ad will run for several days starting December 24 and will include multiple animated segments, according to a person familiar with the deal. The brand spent roughly $500,000 on the placement — standard for a run at the Sphere.
“It’s sort of showing that a crypto project can exceed and go out of crypto, touch the hearts and minds of everyday consumers,” Vedant Mangaldas, chief of strategy and brand at Pudgy Penguins, told CoinDesk. He said that the deal was made possible because the project has a “real business” behind it.
Launched in 2021 on Ethereum, Pudgy Penguins is best known for its collection of 8,888 cartoon-style penguin NFTs, each with unique traits. Under new leadership, the project has since expanded into physical toys sold at major retailers and a browser-based social game called Pudgy World.
The most popular Pudgy Penguin was reportedly sold in August 2022 for 400 ETH — valued at around $650k at the time. Today, the NFT would be worth over $1.2 million at ETH’s current price of $3,086.
The project fought to stay relevant during the recent years-long NFT bear market — not without success. Last December, it made fresh headlines when it said it was planning to launch a token called PENGU on Solana .
A few weeks later, the NFT set became the world’s second most-valued NFTs with a minimum — or floor — price for any of the 8,888 comic penguins topping $100,000 and flipping the collections’ value above its comic monkey forerunner, the Bored Apes Yacht Club.
PENGU, which is listed on major exchanges such as Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD), is down about 80% over the past year and about 74% from its all-time high of $0.042 in July.
