Watch: Britain mocked as rat-filled dump in musical US advert
Coinbase claims its two-minute video highlights the issues blighting Britons, including the cost of living crisis, strikes, redundancies and unaffordable housing.
The advert is likely to further fuel claims that the UK's stature has diminished under Sir Keir Starmer's Government.
Titled Everything is Fine, the video opens with a man in a leaking house and a woman drowning in bills as cheery lyrics proclaim: 'We ain't got no troubles, no reason to complain because here in Great old Britain, we just love it when it rains.'
It continues: 'Morning! We're cosy here at home, even though it's not our own, but wait a few more years, and who can say? Everything is just fine.
'Everything is grand. Your life can get no better when you're living by the letter in this pleasant land. Everything is just fine.'
If everything is fine, then don't change anything at all.
But when the financial system isn't working for so many people in the UK, it needs to be updated. pic.twitter.com/rL1EaKu12V
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) July 31, 2025
The advert appears to echo a survey by Lancaster University's Work Foundation, which found that one in six UK workers said they were struggling to pay their bills each month.
The poll revealed that four in 10 said they had little income left for savings or holidays, and less than half believed wage growth was keeping up with the cost of living.
The advert then shows rubbish piling up on streets with rats, appearing to relate to the ongoing bin strikes in Birmingham, which started in March. Unite and Birmingham City Council are yet to reach an agreement in talks.
The song goes on: 'Everything is great. The streets can't get no cleaner. Or the rat meat any leaner. No, life is just first rate.'
It then looks at growing food prices with a woman worried about her supermarket bill as she checks out.
The song, which mimics Oliver!-style musical theatre, goes on: 'Everything is just fine. These fish fingers are a steal. Prices up a smidge. Just a 100 quid a meal. Empty purse, but hey, could be worse if there was nothing in the fridge!'
New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed that food inflation climbed higher for a sixth consecutive month in July. The BRC warned that retailers would be forced to increase prices again if Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, sought to steady the public finances by raising taxes in the autumn.
Highlighting the issue of growing unemployment, which has risen to its highest level in four years at 4.7 per cent, the advert shows a man being made redundant from a law firm and not complaining about having to get a low-paid job.
The song says: 'Strategic realignment. Means I get to work for myself. Yay! Paying off my law degree.
'With tips from each delivery. Excuse me, sir, I have your tandoori! Everything is just fine.
'Everything is grand. Your life can get no better when you're living by the letter in this pleasant land. Everything is just fine. Everything is great.'
The Coinbase advert finishes off by mocking the growing number of people moving to Dubai, as figures from John Mason International Movers last year reported a 420 per cent increase over the last five years in inquiries from British nationals wanting to relocate to the UAE.
The advert, showing a smartly dressed couple, says: 'We're soldiering on. We're doing our bit. We're off to Dubai. It's time to jump ship. We're tightening our belts.
'With a stiff upper lip. Cos everything, everything. Everything's just fine!'
It ends with the strapline: 'If everything's fine, don't change anything.'
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives at City Hall in London, claimed the advert showed how 'disastrous' the Labour Government was for the UK.
She added: 'We're a laughing stock. Everything is obviously not fine, and it's only going to get worse. If only we could change everything!'
However, Jean Morrow, group creative director at Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange, said the two-minute clip is aimed at prompting a conversation about how crypto could fit into the UK financial system.
'We wanted to connect with Brits on a cultural level and show up with a high level of craft and clarity,' she said.
'The campaign uses humour and a fair amount of dancing to inspire an important conversation: are there alternatives to the existing financial system? And where can crypto fit in to give regular people more options and control?'
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