What’s with all the hype?
Since NFT’s have been creeping their way into the business landscape over the last year, more and more people are becoming involved with Crypto and the metaverse landscape. Oddly enough, however, NFT usage in business can be seen in several different high-level brands as well as in brands for everyday people. NFTs are difficult to acquire for most people (unless you make one yourself) due to the high cost of buying one. Additionally, they have no actual usage other than being digital items embedded with code in the blockchain. However, this hasn’t stopped brands from hopping on the bandwagon. Addidas, Nike, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton among other high-level luxury brands have followed the hype with their own NFT collaborative projects. However, this week's news was a bit shocking to me as Barbie in collaboration with NFT brand Boss Beauties decided to launch their own NFT campaign with the goal of “inspiring others”. This is a bit odd since with the NFT landscape being so exclusive, how might these “others” be inspired?
Inspiration?
According to the details of the campaign, the NFT series will result in the release of “tokens” that are representative of the 250 careers Barbie has undertaken since 1959. Although the exclusivity of NFT’s appears to lack the “inspiration” that Barbie claims to represent, their plans with the proceeds, however, follow through with this ideology. As part of their joint effort, the businesses will each give a total of $250,000. The Barbie Dream Gap Project, which is defined on the website of Barbie’s parent company Mattel as “an ongoing worldwide project that offers girls the resources and support they need to continue believing in themselves,” will get the other half ($125,000). The Boss Beauties Foundation, a charity dedicated to mentoring and a scholarship program for young women, will get the remaining $125,000. In addition to this, the NFT launch will also provide virtual mentorship programs for girls, inviting them to listen to talks by leaders in a wide variety of careers and fields to inspire them to “become their best selves”. Thus, it appears Barbie is using the hype of NFTs for something with a tangible benefit.
NFT’s as a platform for Philanthropy
Despite what many people think, several organizations have used NFT’s as a platform for philanthropy. An organization known as “The Giving Block” has dedicated several NFT projects to providing support to a wide variety of global social causes. Having partnered with several NFT artists and collectives as well as non-profit organizations. “The Giving Block” has been able to assist in aiding groups such as the Ukraine Emergency Response Fund among other charities. Thus, the case with Barbie shows that when brands adopt a similar principle to that of nin-profits with their own NFT projects, something that seems ludicrously luxurious becomes a platform for social betterment.
