Groupon's Tasteless Restaurant Ad

     I am not a huge football fan. But, every year, I do sit down with my family on Super Bowl Sunday and watch the game. Truthfully, though, I could care less about the score. The reason I really watch is for the hysterical commercials during the breaks.

      I am aware that Super Bowl Sunday was quite a while ago, but I do believe that a specific controversial commercial seemed to go under the radar around school. The ad was for Groupon, a company whose focus is to sell coupons online for various restaurants and stores, with a social media aspect to their marketing: the more people you tell about a particular promotion who actually buy it, the more you get back from Groupon. The ad, Groupon's first on TV, begins with a heart-wrenching story about the poor community in Tibet, but the focus and tone of the commercial quickly shifts to an attempt to promote Groupon's business.

This commercial reminded me specifically of a discussion we had in my American Studies class. 

Also, during the Super Bowl this year, there were various ads beginning with a tribute to 9/11. At the end of each ad, however, the sponsoring company's logo would show up on screen, almost as if to say, "Hey, buy our product because we care about America and 9/11." 

In class, we discussed whether or not we thought that these specific ads were genuine, or if they were just to promote the companies and their products. We came to a very shaky consensus: overall, all of us were a little uncomfortable with the idea of using 9/11 as a way to boost a company's image.

I think this Groupon commercial is a completely different story. It is clear that they were trying to be funny and edgy at the "connection" between the unfortunate situation in Tibet which we are powerless to fix, and being able to save money at a local Tibetan restaurant. Groupon has no intention of trying to support the people of Tibet highlighted in the ads. The sole purpose of this commercial was to promote themselves through an attempt at humor.

It seems as though many American people have become so fixated on making it that they are willing to pretty much do anything it takes to achieve success. It's unbelievable the kinds of things that people will do in order to flourish. Americans will take drastic measures to get what they want done, and won't stop for anything in their way. In this case, Groupon crossed an invisible boundary. An American based company, they did what they thought they needed to do to create interest in their products, forgetting about the tastelessness of the message. 

Commercials like these really get me thinking about our values as a society. When did making money become more important than sustaining and promoting ethical values? At what point do we stop and and ask ourselves, "Is what I am doing right?" When have we as Americans crossed the line? Groupon was not the first company to cross the line (in my view); they are only a recent example of many others who have done so.