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Reddit users have emblazoned a Times Square billboard in New York with a reference to the recent GameStop stock drama.
The ad, which ran for an hour on Friday (January 30) courtesy of digital billboard maker Matei Psatta, shows symbols indicating vastly rising stock prices with the caption “$GME GO BRRR” – alluding to the stock’s ticker symbol on the NY Stock Exchange.
GameStop’s share price has skyrocketed over the past week, going from well under $100 on January 21 to a closing price of $325 on January 29.
The “movement” was initially organised by those on the Reddit page WallStreetBets, where pirate investors pumped up Gamestop’s price in an effort to financially damage hedge fund short-sellers who bet against the stock and planned to profit from its failure.
Psatta told The New York Post that his Times Square billboard cost him only $18, as it was a one-hour purchase from his own company. “Did it purely to support the movement and make some people smile,” he said. “I’m considering running another but want to see how the sentiment is on Monday.”
A Reddit user paid for this billboard in Times Square, then put it on TikTok.$GME is the GameStop stock symbol.
“BRR” is the sound made when money is printed out. pic.twitter.com/bqQD8fRskh— scott budman (@scottbudman) January 30, 2021
Another digital ad appeared in Oklahoma, reading: “We’re not leaving! GME” along with a string of emojis.
“For the first time, it is almost as if God gave a reason for all us to band together to battle corruption and stand for what is clearly right,” one Reddit user commented. “I have never experienced unity like this before, regardless of where you belong in the political spectrum, everyone is unified in what needs to be done.”
It has since been announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are to review the role of Reddit in the recent price surge, with investment app Robinhood removing its online stock. Those criticising the app’s intervention include Democratic senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Republican senator Ted Cruz, and Ja Rule.
“Yo this is a fucking CRIME what [Robinhood] is doing,” Ja tweeted on Thursday (January 28).
The rapper later told Rolling Stone that he’s been following the Robinhood/Reddit/GameStop saga “for a week or so”, saying that the WallStreetBets Reddit group “have been fighting back” against “the big Wall Street guys”.
Elsewhere, Trevor Noah recreated Margot Robbie’s iconic bath scene from The Big Short to explain the GameStop shares saga to fans on social media.
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