National Geographic NFTs met with backlash on social media
National Geographic’s Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection drop was met with backlash on social media as NFTs continue to be frowned upon by some.
National Geographic NFT launch goes south
National Geographic has launched its Polygon-based NFT collection, announced earlier this month. The collection, dubbed “GM: Daybreak Around the World” and was created to celebrate National Geographic’s 153rd anniversary. Sixteen photographers took several pictures at the break of dawn from various locations around the globe.
An announcement on social media detailing the technology used was met with backlash from fans of the popular American magazine. Several negative comments were left dismissing NFTs and National Geographic’s choice to use the technology. Some even labeled the initiative as an outright scam.
The NFT sale started on Tuesday at 3 pm ET and has not been especially successful, as only 17% of the NFT collection has been sold since its launch. According to some comments, users also claimed to have experienced technical issues during the launch. One user claims to have waited six hours to mint his token.
The NFT collection was launched on Snowcrash, a Web3 platform launched in 2022, which may have been one of the reasons for the collection’s underwhelming performance. Some users urged National Geographic to release its NFTs on OpenSea, expressing their disapproval of the marketplace chosen.
Mainstream brands continue to embrace NFTs
While the organization’s venture into the NFT market was not particularly successful, it is not the first time that National Geographic has delved into the web3 space. The company has shown interest in using the technology to offer NFT-authenticated media, digital collectibles, photos, and artwork.
USPTO attorney Mike Kondoudis also announced that the magazine’s non-profit education and science brand National Geographic Society, filed for NFT and Metaverse trademarks which encompass several types of downloadable multimedia collectibles.
As more companies announced their plans to join Metaverse and create NFT collections in the Web3 ecosystem, the industry has been able to grow tremendously despite the negative market sentiment that prevailed for the better part of 2022. Despite these harsh market conditions, investment and development in the web3 space have continued to grow during the course of 2022.
Several mainstream brands and companies have jumped on board the NFT craze, including Rolls Royce, Warner Bros, Nike, Starbucks, and many others. As National Geographic’s troubled NFT launch shows, initiatives that leverage NFTs are not always guaranteed to go smoothly.
For example, the “Game of Thrones: Build Your Realm” NFT collection, launched earlier this month, allowed collectors to experience the fictional universe portrayed in beloved fantasy series in a new way by creating their own unique realms and avatars, featuring various elements from the “Game of Thrones” property.
The release of the collection caused widespread demand and technical issues, which resulted in Nifty halting the buying process temporarily to address the congestion. The artwork of the NFTs was also widely criticized by a significant part of the community and proved to be a major disappointment to many fans.
