Is Groupon the real Super Bowl loser?
The discount-deal site goes from darling to dud after a series of ads that some viewers thought were in bad taste.
No such thing as bad publicity? Groupon hopes so.
Who are they kidding? They know so!! FYI Timothy Hutton is a MAJOR investor in many restaurant chains in NYC alone! Don’t doubt for a minute that he doesn’t know what HE is doing!
The company has suffered days of negative feedback after running three Super Bowl spots that appeared to make light of issues like human rights oppression in Tibet. “The people of Tibet are in trouble,” actor Timothy Hutton said with apparent concern. “But they still whip up an amazing fish curry!” You can watch the spot here.
The ads triggered so much criticism that Groupon’s founder, Andrew Mason, went online not to apologize for them but to explain them. He said the Super Bowl commercials that are truly offensive are ones built around “the crass objectification of women.” Groupon’s ads didn’t do that.
Mason said the ads were mostly self-mocking, a takeoff on the shameless self-promotion that advertising is usually based on. “We would never have run these ads if we thought they trivialized the causes,” Mason wrote. “Even if we didn’t take them as seriously as we do, what type of company would go out of their way to be so antagonistic?”
The reason why I did not highlight the commercial upon its release is because I knew that it would offend alot of people. It was clearly in poor taste! With that in mind, I am also aware of the fact that all publicity good or bad, is publicity for Groupon. Don’t think for a minute that they weren’t using this marketing ploy to grab more of the spotlight than the other advertisers.
It is a dirty old trick that ALWAYS WORKS!!
Case in point: Charlie Sheen and his drinking, drugs, womanizing and rehab. Although, I have to admit, it is really getting old!
A very funny superbowl commercial was the one for Go Daddy featuring Joan Rivers: