
Groupon spends big on Superbowl commercials, but ads anger many viewers - anigbrowl
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/06/technology/groupon_superbowl_ad/
======
norova
I believe if they would have made it a clear fact that they were directly
supporting the groups which they were poking fun at, the ads would not have
been so ill-received. You can donate to Greenpeace, The Tibet Fund, Rainforest
Action Network and buildOn at Groupon's site and your donation will be matched
(with the exception of Greenpeace, for which you receive Groupon credit):
<http://savethemoney.groupon.com/>

It's a bit of a shame that the donation site wasn't promoted at all in the
videos, it might have done wonders for the groups on the receiving end.

------
brudgers
It had a great structure in theory, set people up to expect one thing then
throw them into an entirely new frame of reference to make the product stand
out.

There were two problems, one is that they ran it backwards from high moral
ground to low. Secondly, they spent way too long describing Groupon is and
what it does which allowed the audience time to recover from the shock and
become disgusted. Half the commercial was setup, 3 seconds were punchline and
12 seconds were trying to explain the punchline. If it had been funny, all
would have been forgiven.

~~~
kongqiu
Excellent analysis. Plus, where are you finding "fish curry" in Gyantse?! When
I think of Tibet, I think of... fish? curry?

The ad fails on so many levels...

------
YuriNiyazov
If you watched Andrew Mason's talk at Startup School '10, you'll understand
the Groupon ads. These ads reflect the history of Groupon itself - Groupon
grew out of ThePoint.com (which is still up) - a site dedicated to group
activism, and it was going absolutely nowhere. The ads are dead-on - for all
the talk about helping Tibet and saving endangered whales, we vote with our
dollars in favor of ethnic food and fun excursions.

~~~
desigooner
unfortunately, not every television ad viewer has heard of Andrew Mason being
Groupon's CEO .. much less about his startup school talk and his philosophy
and what not ..

there's not much sense in defending these ads, whatever the deeper thought may
have been .. upon viewing them, they were crass, not humorous and definitely
not in the right taste.

~~~
besquared
This is exactly why these are amazing. He took a group activism site that
basically couldn't make anything and turned it into the fastest growing
company in the history of the world. They turned down a $6 billion offer and
paid for all these superbowl ads.

The real irony here is people's principles don't actually matter. People can't
help themselves and will take saving $15 on a dinner millions of times over
rather than offering it up to any of their principles or supposedly lofty
morals. Mason discovered the real secret here which is it doesn't matter which
moral road you're on people can't help themselves.

The reason people think these are crass is that they can't deal with the
realization of their own moral corruption and hypocrisy. These commercials are
a statement about the same people who are lambasting them. They got trolled
and the more they rage the more they out themselves for the ruinous morally
crippled savages that they truly are.

~~~
sunchild
Well, that's one hell of a marketing strategy. I'm chalking this one up to
poor sense of humor and put Groupon in the deadpool.

------
jfager
If Groupon wants to associate their own brand with this kind of image, fine,
whatever, I can ignore them easily enough. But how would you feel as a
business owner if you started getting boycotted because the idiotic company
that manages your coupon campaigns went out of its way to offend your customer
base?

GoDaddy gets away with stupid offensive commercials because companies that use
them don't actually have to show an association with them to their own
customers. It's kind of hard to run a secret Groupon campaign, though - your
implicit approval of their image via your campaign dollars is right out in the
open.

~~~
NHQ
GoDaddy is also about as racy as an episode of Everybody Love's Raymond.

~~~
panarky
> Everybody Love's Raymond.

See <http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe>

------
Helianthus16
It seems right now that liking it is the minority view, so I'll throw up what
I like about it real quick.

General advertising culture crassly manipulates desires in a way that I find
insulting. This commercial purposely fucks that manipulation up. It's like a
middle finger to the soulless beer commercials that I find tiresome, the
"being told what to like" mentality.

This commercial also has a point, in an Emperor's Clothes sort of way. People
are angry because they don't like feeling like their concern for whales,
Tibet, or the cause du jour is insincere even if they aren't doing much to
actually contribute.

If you're offended, step back and look at why. Is it because you don't like
thinking about how absurd American culture is (in effect if not intent),
importing Tibetan food for trendy twenty-somethings to enjoy, turning concern
for rainforests into absurd Disneyland-style Rainforest Cafes. Because that's
a _true_ analysis. If you're upset because a commercial is an _accurate
portrayal of life_, then that's not entirely sensible.

On the other hand if you're upset because "They didn't do commercials right,
they're supposed to follow a pattern/distort data/just be funny," I'm
unimpressed with your orthodoxy.

The world is absurd. I like a company that is willing to spend millions of
dollars to point that absurdity out using itself as an example. People aren't
going to stop buying groupons because of this ad, and a successful ad campaign
wouldn't save them from going bust like Pets.com (as is documented elsewhere).

In other words, _this ad meant nothing anyway,_ and it embraces that to
actually be pretty funny and insightful.

In my opinion.

~~~
anigbrowl
Except it's not an analysis, it's a sales pitch. If it were on a satire show,
you'd have a point. But they are in fact inviting you to spend your money on
discount coupons for shopping instead of sending it to a nonprofit.

My wife and I donate money to a variety of different causes we care about (not
these specific ones, but that's beside the point). Besides the patronizing
suggestion that people never actually put their money where their mouth is,
the Tibet one also comes off as racist. She used to like Groupon, and tended
to give them several hundred $ a month in business. Note my use of the past
tense here.

~~~
Helianthus16
I am using the artistic interpretive sense of the word 'analysis' here. The
ideas presented in the commercial are a viewpoint.

It is an analysis that is a sales pitch because it says: we're so confident
that we can tell you _exactly_ what the situation is, with an actually quite
sad bitter self-awareness, and it won't make any difference.

"This is a stupid system [advertising and the crass mainstream] and I refuse
to play. And I can tell you this to your face and you will still use me,
because that's just how our world works."

>Besides the patronizing suggestion that people never actually put their money
where their mouth is

That ain't a suggestion, that's the truth. And even if everyone were
committing a significant proportion of their resources, it still wouldn't
change the really bizarre affinity Americans have for taking causes and
turning them into ways to make money. I believe I already mentioned the
Rainforest Cafe.

I really don't think you're cynical enough, and just personally irritated
because you actually donate.

Anyhow, Groupon doesn't care about customers like your wife/you. Groupon will
continue to make money, for one thing; but not only that, Groupon doesn't need
customers that are told what to do by advertisements. And if you're making a
purchasing decision based on an advertisement, that's exactly what you are
doing.

The goal of Groupon's advertisement was to not be an advertisement, but a
stated fact. I hesitate to say it was an anti-commercial because it is still
actually promoting its product, but it is definitely flipping off every other
superbowl commercial for taking itself so damn seriously.

Finally, I'm assuming you know that Groupon is matching donations for the
various causes. The way it's not making this clear actually makes me respect
them more, because waving the size of your donation-dick (that's the second
time I've used that phrase tonight, how old am I?) is just another form of
crass advertisement.

~~~
anigbrowl
_I really don't think you're cynical enough, and just personally irritated
because you actually donate._

Actually, we were irritated by the Tibet commercial because it came off as so
racist. My in-laws are Asian so the whole family was hanging out together. It
did not go down well at all - and my in-laws are neither hypersensitive nor
lacking in humor.

 _The goal of Groupon's advertisement was to not be an advertisement, but a
stated fact._

Sez you.

 _I hesitate to say it was an anti-commercial because it is still actually
promoting its product, but it is definitely flipping off every other superbowl
commercial for taking itself so damn seriously._

Riiiight. Because superbowl commercials are famous for being humorless public
service announcements. As for Groupon matching donations (up to $100k each, I
believe), big whoop. They spent $3m on their ad slots. This PR mess will cost
them a lot more before it's done.

~~~
Helianthus16
I don't know why you don't see the racism as a portrayal of casual American
incidental racism. It is not (in my view) an endorsement of casual American
racism.

Yes, sez me. the point was to provide my opinion.

It wasn't a humorless public service announcement, it was a bitter statement
about the absurdity of American culture and the fact that the commercial
itself would reflect in no way on its profitability. The PR mess will cost
them nothing--at least, nothing important.

------
jimmyjim
Probably the most tasteless commercial I've watched in recent time. Pretty
disappointing what's become of the state of American marketing.

~~~
drivebyacct2
_This_ is what causes you to be disappointed in American marketing? And uh,
how much did you donate to these causes last year exactly?

~~~
jimmyjim
Being that insensitive to the sufferings of others and trivializing it to some
coupon to a fish curry dinner -- well, I can't think of any ad that quite
matches it. So yes, _this_ is what causes me to be disappointed in American
marketing. And, I try to donate in the capacity that I can (but I cannot
always, as I'm a college student who lives on paycheck to paycheck). Thank you
for presuming otherwise though.

~~~
drivebyacct2
It's not even insensitive though. It's fully aware of the fact that those
issues are significant and deserving of attention. It's much more of a satire
on the fact that most Americans express their "outrage" in Facebook posts and
"moral outrage" posts on HN rather than taking action or donating. It's
mocking the psuedo moral superiority and giving people want they really want
in an abrasive, highly discussed manner.

It's good advertising and I don't find it nearly as insulting as everyone here
seems to. At the worst, it simply paints a sad satire of American "disaster
fatigue" culture.

Also, my snark at the end was not necessarily personally directed at you. I
guess I'm just indulging in the sarcastic satire that I feel Groupon is
borrowing from - it's easy to be outraged at the trivialization of something
"tragic", but is it _really_ hurting anyone or anything?

~~~
muhfuhkuh
Well, hell. Why not do a 9/11 one?

"The world was shook to it's very foundation the day the World Trade Center
buildings were attacked. Heroes fallen, a nation shook; some victims, flames
against their back and smoke subsuming them, took a plunge...

... like the falling prices at Bleecker's Appliance on the corner of Warwick
and Bushnell, where I just got a killer deal on a refrigerator through
Groupon!"

Oh, right. Fresh wounds and all, right?

~~~
drivebyacct2
Heh, not really as if I can respond to this without sounding like a jerk and
being downvoted incessantly. Oh well, I'll take a shot anyway: my response
choices included mentioning that it was a decade ago, pointing out that I
laugh (albeit how terrible it may or may not be of me) at this image:
<http://i.min.us/ibOZze.jpg>, and how I think a personal or national tragedy
is slightly different than some animals in the water far enough away that I
don't actually think about them regularly.

I'd actually be more upset if they ran an ad mocking peoples' opposition to
the war... or you know something substantial. I find that the continued
_SHOCK_ over 9/11 is really just another symptom of our addiction to "disaster
porn" [1]. We in the US love a good disaster, especially if it's a banner
under which to assert staunch nationalism (and with it pass the largest
violation of Constitutional rights in the history of this country and invade
two others), and continue to drum up emotion, support and excuses for
ourselves and our government.

Yes it was terrible, yes people died. More people died in automobile
accidents. Ask yourself why you're so worked up over 9/11. Was it graphic?
Maybe, but that probably has to do with our constant reiteration of what a
"tragedy" it was along with footage of the towers falling.

[1]: less "shockingly" known as Compassion Fatigue
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue>) (hm, this article isn't a
very good discussion. I'm more familiar with it in the policy debate world
where it has a bit more relevant meaning)

~~~
muhfuhkuh
"I'd actually be more upset if they ran an ad mocking peoples' opposition to
the war... or you know something substantial."

That's the problem. You think it was just about Whales and trees, but I guess
you didn't realize how many more died in the Tibetan struggle for independence
than 9/11? Then smash cut on Timothy Hutton getting a fish dinner?

I say, if they wanted shock, do the 9/11 thing. Or, even more topical, the
egyptian revolution. Like Kenneth Cole did[1]. That worked out well for them!

[1] <http://blog.seattlepi.com/zennieabraham/archives/238287.asp>

------
xtacy
The ads:

1\. Whales: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP_yScodndg>

2\. Rainforest: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z206ipPhuFQ>

3\. Tibet: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFT2yjk0A>

~~~
est
In the Tibet video, I think it's not even a Tibetan restaurant, mre like a a
Mongolian one.

------
pekinb
< is outraged > < joins Save the Whales facebook group > < satisfied, inserts
handful of almonds into mouth >

------
arfrank
They posted on their blog about their rationale behind this ad campaign:
<http://www.groupon.com/blog/cities/groupon-super-bowl-ads/>

------
blocke
If their goal was to portray their company as something only used by shallow
boring people they succeeded.

~~~
baddox
And if their goal is to get every shallow boring person in America to be their
customers, then that's a potentially massive base.

~~~
blocke
Do shallow boring people think of themselves as being shallow and boring?

------
Jach
Just watched the three ads, my opinion on Groupon hasn't changed. (That is,
I'm still indifferent to them.) People are upset too easily.

~~~
muhfuhkuh
Dachau, the scene of rape, torture, human experimentation, and mass execution.
Thousands were forced into a life of hard labor under miserable conditions,
the others left to waste away to skin and bones...

... But not at Murray's Deli in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where I just
got a fabulous $5 off on a $10 corned beef hash on marble rye with a kosher
dill pickle on the side.

Groupon!

~~~
SkyMarshal
Fishing for an invocation of Godwin's Law today, are we?

~~~
muhfuhkuh
Nah. Here, I'll do one without impugning Jewish history:

“1960s. The Watts riots. The scene of chilling brutality and suffering. Dogs
unleashed on unsuspecting black onlookers. Children firehosed and beaten with
batons. Homes and properties set ablaze…

Just like the fiery pits at Neely’s Bar-B-Que, where I just saved $10 on a $20
fried chicken and baby back ribs with two large sides. Finger-lickin’ savings
at Groupon!”

Then link to the United Negro College Fund on groupon.com.

How's that?

------
awakeasleep
So if Groupon already has the tech savvy, liberal mom and dad crowd in it's
database, might a 'crass' ploy like this hit the remaining demographic? I'm
thinking about the people who didn't go to college.

It seems crazy to target them, but really, if you already have the educated
elite, and you're advertising on a football game...

Anyway, here is the official justification:
<http://www.groupon.com/blog/cities/groupon-super-bowl-ads/>

Might give you some useful perspective before you start forming an opinion.

------
some1else
Coca-Cola also ran a Tibet-China ad, which was a lot more candid, which makes
it even worse. I hate exploitation of the Tibet subject either way, but
sneaking it in with nonsensical emotional branding is just rotten. At least
Groupon started of as a charitable cause, but they're both champtions of
consumerism now.

I wish somebody pivots the business model behind ThePoint, achieves amazing
profits and goes on to use it's SuperBowl ad time to mock Groupon's
metamorphosis :-P

------
erreon
I think it was a smart move. In a few months no one will know why they know
who Groupon is, but they'll absolute recognize the name because they were all
pissed about how "insensitive" the commercials were.

~~~
muhfuhkuh
I'll absolutely remember them just like I knew about the sock puppet, Whoopi
Goldberg, and the... one with the chesty women. Which one was that one again?

------
hartror
Hadn't seen the ads or read the coverage, but had seen headlines and tweets
complaining. Had been thinking "How bad could they be?" so I just watched them
. . oh crap who thought this was a good idea!

~~~
mishmax
They made you watch! Looks like the ads were designed to create controversy
and get people talking...

~~~
waterlesscloud
Contrary to popular slogans, there is in fact such a thing as bad publicity.

I don't think Groupon intended this reaction, I think their ad agency was
stupid and Groupon had a blind spot because they knew what they meant to say.
As opposed to the message they actually did communicate.

The weird thing is that they didn't even have to do anything edgy at all. They
have a good product that people naturally want. All they had to do at this
point was explain what they do.

------
alphadog
Question here.

Why not place a solid call-to-action during the advertisement for people to
visit their website and sign-up?

All they said was "visit Groupon.com".

All Groupon needs is your e-mail address and a zip code. It seems like they
could have baited people with something and really grown their subscriber
base?

Am I crazy for thinking that was a wasted opportunity, or does that not work
well with such a massive audience?

Maybe the agency they hired only does branding and couldn't fathom the thought
of getting direct responses?

Curious.

~~~
chc
Isn't "Visit Groupon.com" a call to action? That's what it was called back in
my day.

As for signing up, the website itself contains that call to action.

~~~
alphadog
Yes, it's a CTA. Just a weak one in my opinion.

------
sportsTAKES
If Groupon were a brick and mortar, they would be known as a low-brow discount
store.

They are certainly very successful but a lot of low-brow businesses are,
that's nothing new.

For a lot of consumers it's all about price but many consumers (myself
included) only want to spend money where they will receive great service and
can identify with the company culture. I think Groupon risks losing customers
that just don't appreciate their somewhat demented culture.

------
SwellJoe
I tried Groupon, thinking I'd find out about some local businesses (I travel
full-time, so I never have "favorite" places to eat or things to do, and
always eager to try new things; I'm possibly the perfect audience for this
kind of thing). The second day the deal of the day was for Bed, Bath and
Beyond. Now, _that_ is offensive. If I'd wanted to be spammed by multi-
national big box retailers I'd...well, I'd never want to be spammed by multi-
national big box retailers, so I don't know what I'd do. I guess I would have
continued to subscribe to Groupon's service.

In short, I find Groupon offensively attuned to cash at the expense of their
users. So, I guess I'm not too bothered by their super bowl blunders. Though,
I doubt all that many people were really offended enough to turn down a good
deal.

~~~
jackowayed
I don't think they see "people who like trying new things" as their target
audience so much as "people who like saving money on things". Most people
probably prefer a deal like that (or, say, the Living Social Amazon deal) to
one for some random local business because more people have a desire to
purchase things from Bed, Bath, and Beyond than to purchase from a given
random local business.

~~~
SwellJoe
That could be; and is, perhaps, why they have had such explosive success.

I was under the mistaken impression, based on reading interviews with the
founders and seeing the founders speak, that they were interested in bringing
interesting local businesses exposure. I may have also been fooled by the
description of their product on the website: "Check your email, Facebook or
Twitter feeds for daily deals on cool local businesses." It wouldn't have
crossed my mind that anyone would ever consider Bed, Bath and Beyond to be a
"cool" or "local" business...but, I'm old. WTF do I know about "cool" or
"local" (or "business", for that matter, it would seem).

------
leeSally
Besides the fact they probably just ruined their China plans, poking fun at
the situation will piss off both sides... one view point..
<http://bit.ly/fKegsC>

------
timmins
My second post in this thread:

It's obvious they're not giving any exposure to this blog post
(<http://www.groupon.com/blog/cities/groupon-super-bowl-ads/>) or the
microsite (<http://savethemoney.groupon.com>)

I can't say I'm offended at the content. I'm almost amazed at how poorly
handled the follow-through of this campaign. They hired CP+B to create the
ads. Why does it seem like no one thought this through?

------
WildUtah
Groupon was supposedly trying to expand in Red China before this. Maybe
they've figured out that no foreign company is going to dominate this market
in the PRC and, like Google, they're a little resentful.

Actually, I see a couple Groupon offers in my overseas city every day and
there don't seem to be a lot of takers. A lot more of the offers seem to be
salons and beauty shops compared to my USA city offers. The restaurant choices
are good, though.

Makes me wonder about the international viability of the Groupon model.

------
NHQ
I think their mistake is that they advertised to their existing customer base,
who are familiar with Groupon's cheekiness, and who are also noted as being
ravenous deal hunters.

~~~
teyc
Yes, their ad was in the same tone as their email copy. But the demographic is
totally different.

Being easygoing and joking around can sound callous when people are just
starting to get to know you.

------
OoTheNigerian
They have got people talking about the ad. That is a good thing.

------
teyc
I remembered a mixergy interview with Andrew Mason, who said that Groupon's
secret lies in their writing.

I duly subscribed to the list and unfortunately found it waffly and difficult
to read. There is a thread on Quora about this.

I wondered if Groupon does any testing at all and Andrew doesn't claim to do
so.

I think these ads are an extension of their smug copywriting. They'd have to
do a lot better than this if they want to win hearts and minds.

------
FirstHopSystems
I think they succeeded at getting people to talk about it[Marketing Objective
Complete!]. If it makes it onto HackerNews I can only imagine how many times
I'm going to have to hear about super bowl commercials in every other website
I visit.

I think the height of super bowl ads was Herding Cat's. After that I don't
think I could ever be entertained by super bowl commercials anymore.

------
jefe78
I had nothing against Groupon(beyond being annoyed about hearing their name,
ALL THE TIME!), until I saw this. Who approved this?!

------
SolarUpNote
That ad didn't fit with the spirit of groupon at all. God, what were they
thinking?

------
mikeknoop
Isn't this the exact coverage Groupon was expecting? I mean, every blog outlet
has been predicting "ad backlash" before the commercials aired. Clearly
Groupon wants the additional press time (whether positive or not)

~~~
jacques_chester
Like PT Barnum and Whatsisname Ferris, they don't care what publicity they
get, as long as their name is spelled correctly.

~~~
beoba
Whats _h_ isname

~~~
jacques_chester
Ferriss

------
civilian
Here's the youtube link. Check out how many downvotes it has.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFT2yjk0A>

------
marcusbooster
Groupon seems to have a real public relations problem.

------
patrickgzill
Very forgettable ... at least with the LivingSocial ad I know to be on my
guard to becoming a hipster-metrosexual with long wavy flowing hair...

------
zaidf
Everything will be whitewashed when they announce a 100M donation to these
organizations during prime time.

Once they do that, people may even get the humor.

------
T_S_
Seems crazy that they would need a Superbowl commercial. Makes me think this
is more about getting investors' attention than customers.

------
enjo
My GOD this is killing me. Apparently just because tech companies are
advertising during the superbowl we MUST be in the midst of a tech bubble?

WTF?

Groupon is, by all appearances, STUPIDLY profitable. This isn't pets.com
raising millions of dollars and blowing it on an ad and aeron chairs. These
are solid companies using the biggest ad day of the year to further cement
their status.

~~~
flipdeadshot
Strawman. No one said anything about this ad being an indication of us being
in the midst of a bubble.

~~~
brownleej
I think the article was at least trying to _imply_ that the ads indicate that
we are in the midst of a bubble. Otherwise, why would they repeatedly bring up
the Super Bowl ads from the last bubble?

------
siglesias
Free publicity granted.

------
jawartak
Watched the commercial on Hulu. Hated it. Went straight to HN to see if I was
the only one. It was the top news story. Guess I'm not.

------
georgieporgie
I watched three of the four ads on their site. They weren't funny, just
cheesy. And not Shatner cheesy, either.

