I thought Groupon’s Superbowl Advertisement was awesome. It is definitely the most talked about commercial. Here is a small list of why I liked it:
#1 Everyone is talking about Groupon wether you liked the ad or not. Millions more will learn about the brand.
#2 Once people realize that Groupon is actually trying to help Tibet people won’t hate them for their provocative ad.
#3 A bunch of press will contact Groupon asking for a follow up of what they were thinking and they will be able to direct them to their charity initiative.
Here are some of my favorite opinions/comments I have read about the Groupon Ad:
“Dude, chill. More people than ever are now talking about Tibet, learning about the issues. It was edgy and funny, not everything needs to be safe and comfortable. If that’s the kind of thing you need, go watch Frasier.” – random dude on reddit
“An important thing in marketing is how someone that had never heard of your company or product (groupon), nor had any of the information above, is going to feel about the company after that ad.After this 30 second spot, they are going to think that groupon are insensitive dicks. They took the culture of people who are suffering and turned them into a joke for privileged people to be cheap and save money.
The ad is only “inside” and “ironic” to people that already understand what groupon is, how it operates and its history. That is definitely not your target audience on Superbowl Sunday, especially for $3 million dollars a pop.
Honestly, had they simply said something like $1 from each groupon sold in February will be donated to Tibet relief they would have looked like heroes, but for them, their marketing company, ad agency and focus groups to all miss that and then to blow $3 million on this epic fail which will probably cost them customers, is pretty daft.” – Cdf12345
“People get mad at Groupon for being tasteless. Groupon CEO gets invited to explain themselves to various media outlets. CEO apologizes, explains the whole donation thing, people are satisfied, and Groupon gets more free exposure than the other Superbowl commercials.” – mynewtempaccount
Personally I don’t like the ad because I hate heartstring ads. I’m resistant advertising that sets out to make me sad for someone else in order for me to open up my wallet. I care about Tibet, but even still the beginning of the commercial made me sigh waiting for the part where I should feel guilty. Instead I got an ending that convinced me that the problem in Tibet is still going on today because the people living in comfort don’t care enough… which is worse. Not only did you try to tug on my heartstrings but you didn’t even do it to guilt me into helping someone. While I’m all for creative and unexpected marketing I think this was just tasteless. They could have saved it with an additional link to find more info about how you can help Tibet.
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