In addition to deciding the champion of the pigskin, the Super Bowl has long been when companies air their biggest-budget, most poignant or most controversial commercials. But last night, couponing company Groupon apparently went a step too far.
In case you missed last night’s big game, here’s what happened: Groupon’s ad, which the two-year-old company paid $3 million to air, opens with footage of the beautiful landscape of Tibet — a country that has suffered under the heavy hand of Communist China since 1951.
“The Tibetan people are in trouble,” says voiceover actor Timothy Hutton. “Their very culture is in danger.”
And then everything goes to hell.
“But they still cook an amazing fish curry!” Hutton says, now sitting comfortably in the restaurant.
From here he goes on to explain why Groupon is so great: Groupon members saved a life-changing $15 on dinner at Himalayan Restaurant in Chicago! Yes, a whole $15! Hooray!
See the ad:
By using the plight of the Tibetan people to advertise their services, Groupon managed to enrage, well, everyone. A few seconds after the broadcast of the video, Twitter erupted with posts of outrage over the ad. And the hatefest just got bigger this morning, with outlets like Forbes reporting that both Chinese and Tibetan activists were outraged by the ad. (The Chinese didn’t like the fact that the ad declared the Tibetan people “in trouble” — a fact they fiercely dispute; and, apparently, the Tibetans don’t like it because their plight was cheapened by being set up for a $15 coupon.)
However, despite its justified anger, Groupon defended (or at least explained) the ad on the company’s blog:
The gist of the concept is this: when groups of people work together to do something, it’s usually to help a cause. With Groupon, people act together to help themselves by getting great deals. So what if we did a PSA-style parody of a celebrity voiced commercial that you think is about some noble cause (like “Save the Whales”), but then turns out to be an impassioned call to action to help yourself (as in “Save the Money”)?
Since we grew out of a collective action and philanthropy site (ThePoint.com) and ended up selling coupons, we liked the idea of mocking ourselves by talking about discounts as a noble cause. So we bought the spots, hired fake documentary expert Christopher Guest to direct them, enlisted some famous fake philanthropists, and ran three Groupon ads before, during, and after the biggest American football game in the world.
In addition, Groupon has set up a website, SaveTheMoney.org, where people can view additional ads and donate money to four “featured charities” – Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, buildOn and the Tibet Fund. Groupon says it will match all donations made through their site up to $100,000.
We know it’s hard enough to get your idea across to millions of people in just 30 seconds. But perhaps Groupon would be wise to include some of these facts in the ad as well. Just an idea…
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn