As I wrote yesterday, it looks like Groupon screwed up again and people are mightily pissed off about them making fun of serious environmental issues and human oppression.
Funny that, eh? People get angry when you make fun of rape, pillage, torture or the end of the world.
Even more than the ad that I didn't like where Groupon makes fun of Amazon rain forest deforestation, it seems those clowns actually ran an ad that made light of China's oppression of the people of Tibet. The ad featured Timothy Hutton and he said, "The people of Tibet are in trouble. But they still whip up an amazing fish curry!"
It then went on to promote Groupon.
Maybe the curry is tasty. This ad campaign isn't. What were they thinking?
Ha! Ha! Ha! Yeah. Hilarious right? Young girls raped and old men and women getting whipped and beaten by jack-booted Chinese security forces in Tibet! Hilarious.... I can't stop laughing! Yeah, and did you hear the screamer about genocide, rape and murder in Palestine too? The people at Groupon must be laughing their ass off at that one! Look for that to be their next ad campaign.
What a bunch of fools these Groupon people must be. I always compare them to Amway, but, in this case, they are much worse. At least the Amway folks were polite... Sort of.
The CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason, must really be a bozo. I imagine that he is a typical rich-kid that has no idea of how the world actually works and has never really had a job. When you read about Groupon's consistent mess ups and his idiotic apologies, you wonder what planet this guy is living on.
Dear readers can do as they please, but I am going to boycott Groupon and never use their service.... My official boycott starts today.
I've written before that Groupon's business model is unsustainable, Mish Shedlock pointed out that he thinks that Groupon will regret not taking $4 billion (USD) from Google, and, judging from the negative press that's come out these last few days (again) I predict Groupon is about to get "pooped-on" by a lot of people.
I imagine that, in the worst case, if they can, the people who work with Groupon CEO Andrew Mason in upper management must be planning a Coup De Etat against that guy. He has no humility and he has no common sense. The guy's video's reek of insincerity. His handling of these screw ups must be really making people worry about where his head is at. I know I'd be thinking, "How do we get rid of this clown?"
He's lucky that Groupon is not a publicly traded company. If they were, they would have given him the boot by now.
But, I'll bet they can't show him the door and this will really hurt Groupon. Google would never offer them $4 billion USD today. They messed up big time. Funny that... Groupon and "messed up big time" are becoming synonymous.
Andrew, your companies "parody" videos are not funny nor are they endearing to the people.
The Wall Street Journal writes in "Is Groupon the real Super Bowl loser?":
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.
Earth to Andy, earth to Andy. Hello? "Objectification of women? You are talking about ads for the Superbowl that Joe Sixpack is watching.... You know, a program that features a war of the gridiron and girls in mini skirts screaming "Go Team!" or "Drink Busweiser!" You know, T & A is what 90% of the viewers (who just so happen to be guys) want to see.
Doh!
Or, Andy, have you never watched the Superbowl like regular American Joe Sixpack has?... (Actually, judging from how you fouled this one up too, it wouldn't surprise me if you said that you never have).
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason continually insists upon showing his lack of class, humility and understanding by making these foolish "apology" videos. In fact, this time, for these offensive Super Bowl videos, he didn't apologize. He is actually so daft that he went on TV to explain them.
Come on, Andy, how dumb can you be? Everyone knows a joke isn't funny if it has to be explained.
Groupon is not funny. Nor is it an endearing brand. Not a good combination for success.
Boycott Groupon? It's on!
UPDATE:
There is a Facebook "Boycott Groupon" group that just started. Join here.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
UPDATE TWO:
Interestingly, after I wrote this blog I Google searched, "Boycott Groupon." I found 290,000 results. Seems there are many people who think like me. Nice work, Andy.
I thought this boycott pretty much summed it all up.
Thanks to Mark Davis in Florida!
Comments? Comments should be succinct, constructive and relevant. We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary. Comments that include personal attacks, racial, religious, or ethnic slurs are not permitted. We will remove any inappropriate comments.
Let's band together and boycott the Groupon website!
ReplyDeleteJoin here!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Groupon/169470236433287?v=wall
Ignore above post, that was a mistake
Okay, I'll bite. You, sir, are the one to completely miss the point. As Mason has correctly offered, Groupon's commercials have not only succeeded in indelibly etching the brand in the mind of the American public but have a gone a good way toward injecting the two issues satirized into the zeitgeist again as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the current Groupon business model is unsustainable in the long term, your and others smug, self-righteous bleating aside, Groupon has hugely succeeded in its present aims. There truly is NO such thing as BAD publicity.
Joe Gray
Kansas City, Missouri USA
Thanks Joe,
ReplyDeleteNo such thing as bad advertising? Oh really? This is a very common misnomer in the twisted world of advertising in America. This contends that any mention at all on media is good. To which I gather you agree. Well, that's proven wrong with any airplane crash, insider trading scandal or food poisoning case.
The real point here is that you agree that these ads were bad. How is it then, that they are better than a well-developed ad that sticks in your head with a positive note? No. Indeed, a negative ad may be "promotion" but it is nowhere near as endearing or useful or profitable as a postive one. And, if you are going to spend the money, then why not do a positive ad?
Maybe next time Groupon can really make you happy by using Genocide to sell, say, German beer? You are WRONG, my friend.
Think about it for a second rather than just spin some nonsense you read in the newspaper.