London Commuters Face Ad ‘Assault’ by New Musk-Inspired Coin: Report

Advertisements for a meme-based coin named after Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s shiba inu dog have appeared on London’s transportation network in recent weeks.

• The Floki Inu coin is being advertised to users of the U.K. capital’s bus and metro network with the slogan “Missed Doge? Get Floki,” the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
• A blog post by Floki Inu’s founders last month said the advertising campaign would be “a full-out assault on the London public transportation system.”
• The ads are ostensibly attempting to capitalize on interest around cryptocurrency, in particular meme-based crypto like dogecoin, which owes much of its popularity to praise from Musk.
• The U.K.’s advertising regulator has previously taken a strict stance on ads that directly instruct consumers to invest in cryptocurrency. In May, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ordered crypto exchange Luno to amend its ads proclaiming “If you’re seeing Bitcoin on the Underground, it’s time to buy.”
• It remains to be seen how the ASA will respond to Floki Inu’s ads.
• Transport for London, the operator of the capital’s mass transit system, said it is not its “responsibility to carry out due diligence on individuals or entities” that advertise on its network, according to the FT’s report.
• Floki Inu, which launched in July, is priced at $0.000058 having hit an record high of $0.00008106 on Oct. 13, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Read more: UK Regulator to Launch £11M Campaign Warning of Crypto Risks