Thomas Daniels
The creator of Solana Meme Coin does a wild publicity stunt by scaling a Hollywood sign.
An unnamed individual was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for scaling the famous Hollywood sign to advertise the Solana-based meme coin Vigilante (VIGI). The event, which took place over the weekend, highlights the more drastic strategies developers are using to promote their currencies.
The Vigilante team shared pictures of a member raising a white flag from the letter “D” atop Mount Lee in Griffith Park, the location of the Hollywood sign. The person stayed on the landmark for about an hour before being caught by police and park guards, according to local sources.
The Vigilante team made references to upcoming publicity stunts in spite of the arrest, which heightened the fierce rivalry in the Solana meme coin market.
Extreme Marketing Is Fueled by the Solana Meme Coin Craze
On February 15, the Vigilante token became live on Pump.fun, offering what the developers referred to as “the most viral token promotion ever seen.” As word of the Hollywood sign incident spread, VIGI’s market value shot up to almost $4 million, indicating that the ploy initially paid off. But the excitement soon subsided, and the token’s value fell by more than 70% to $1.3 million.
Since Pump.fun streamlined the token issuance procedure, Solana meme currencies have been at the epicenter of an increasingly irrational speculative market. Developers have resorted to unorthodox—and frequently careless—promotional tactics in an effort to draw in investors.
Last year, there was a particularly startling instance where a meme currency inventor burned himself alive while marketing a token based on the well-known “Dare” game. From his hospital bed, he continued to promote the initiative despite having third-degree burns.
Amid controversy, Pump.fun disables streaming.
Pump.fun’s streaming feature was used by numerous meme currency initiatives to broadcast extreme actions, including as risky challenges, nudity, animal mistreatment, and even drug overdoses. But in order to stop the tide of contentious marketing strategies, Pump.fun removed the streaming plugin in the face of mounting community criticism and worries about possible regulatory scrutiny.
The limits of promotional tactics are being pushed farther as the meme coin craze heats up, which raises concerns about investor safety, regulation, and the morality of these viral efforts.
