Remember when your mom started using Facebook, TikTok or some other technology-related thing, and you thought, ‘ok, now everyone’s doing it?’ I just had that moment with NFTs. Only instead of my mom, it’s her slow cooker that’s jumping on the technology bandwagon.
That’s because Crockpot, the genericized brand of slow cooker from Newell, has released an NFT to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The NFT, which you can bid on until midnight tonight on Opensea, is basically an animated GIF that shows a bunch of different cartoon renderings of the Crockpot from its origin in 1971 up to today.
Watch for yourself:
Listen, I get it, brands that want to tap into the pop culture zeitgeist will often jump on the latest trend, and the effort by Crockpot is part of a push by the brand at what it is calling “newness.”
“We wanted to celebrate our history without getting too nostalgic,” said Christine Robins, CEO of Home Appliances at Newell Brands, via a press release. “Minting an NFT might seem like an unexpected move from the Crockpot team, but expect to see more newness from our brand as we embark on the next 50 years.”
But unfortunately for Crockpot, NFTs are tricky. Unlike ostensibly owning something like the first tweet ever, an NFT like Crockpot’s doesn’t have a history behind it that adds to the perceived value. For most, it just appears like another animated GIF.
As I’ve written before, NFTs will find the most success in the food market if they act as a golden ticket to some unique real-world experience. So if Crockpot had created, say, a one-off unique 50th-anniversary collective Crockpot that came with the NFT, I think they may have had something.
But maybe I’m wrong, and there’s someone who wants a Crockpot’s NFT. So if that person is you, hurry up and head on over to place your bid before time expires.
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