Controversial Groupon Super Bowl Commercial Exploits Tibet for Laughs

By jozjozjoz | Sunday, February 6, 2011 | 19 Comments

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I was only half-watching Super Bowl XLV today, but my attention was piqued when an ad featuring Asians (Tibetans) appeared on my TV. It turns out, it was an ad by Groupon, featuring Timothy Hutton which opened with what seemed to be an impassioned plea for the oppressed people of Tibet. Suddenly, Tibet became a punchline about delicious food that you could get for cheap through their site.

Quoting Timothy Hutton in the Groupon Ad:

The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their very culture is in jeopardy. But they still whip up an amazing fish curry.

This happens to be one of Groupon’s first forays into television advertising, so the backlash on various social media channels was immediate:

“Groupon exploits Tibetan plight for giggles? Why?” (via Salon on Twitter)
“I’m sorry, but did Groupon.com just exploit the fact that Tibet isn’t free for a COMMERCIAL?
Yes, yes it did. As soon as I realized what was going on, I felt sick. Fuck you, Groupon. Fuck you.” (Mohandas Gandhi on Tumblr)
“Millions of jews were murdered through starvation at Auschwitz… but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this GREAt brisket at Katz’s Delicatessen, thanks to Groupon!” (via crock703 on YouTube)
“Dear @Groupon – over a million Tibetans have been killed during Chinese occupation. Your ad wasn’t funny.” (via Devbost on Twitter)
“Groupon seems to have achieved the unique feat of paying $3M to lose customers who previously loved them.” (via RohitBhargava on Twitter)

Huffington Post asks “Is Groupon exploiting tragedy in Tibet for its own business with this ad? Is this similar to Kenneth Cole’s misguided Cairo message, though played out in front of millions more during the Super Bowl?”

To me, this is just another ad in a long list of annoying (or offensive) Super Bowl commercials which featured Asians: See 2009 Doritos ad, and 2007 SalesGenie.com ads for previous ads.

Some people, like Boribella, have already written complaints to Groupon and their response is unapologetic:

Hi ___________,
Thanks for your feedback!

We certainly don’t mean to offend with our advertisements. We think renting celebrities to promote our “Save the Money” campaign is pretty funny, but we understand if it doesn’t tickle you the right way.

In fact, we’re already raising awareness and funds for organizations who are doing work around these causes. Please go to http://savethemoney.org and you will have the opportunity to donate to any of these causes. Groupon will gladly match your donation.

Additionally, we do occasionally feature other real charities on our site, so if you have any suggestions for us, please let us know here: http://groupon.sponsorships.sgizmo.com

Thanks again for your feedback! Let me know if you have any other suggestions or questions.

Regards,
Dave M
[email protected]

A lot has been made press about the Groupon being the “fastest growing company in history,” but if the Twitterverse has anything to say about this, Groupon’s first Super Bowl commercial is more fumble than touchdown. What do you think about it and will it affect your decision about whether or not to buy/use Groupons in the future?

For more information on the real plight of Tibetans — and not their “amazing fish curry” — see 10 Facts about Tibet via FreeTibet.org.

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ObservationsSportsTVWTF

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

TheresaJohnson

I got the exact same response from them – word for word. I felt the response was also in poor taste. For such a serious issue, one would think that “funny” and “doesn’t tickle you the right way” would not have been the choosen words to respond with. Very unfortunate.
I immediatly “unliked” them on facebook and will no longer use their services.
dongdey

“It is clearly a mockery of american culture and not of Tibetan culture and the same goes for Brazilian rainforest and the whales. If you don’t get the joke, you shouldn’t jump the gun. Do we honestly think these actors want to make fun ofendangered species, whales, or cultures? We need to take a chill pill. Like someone else mentioned, they clearly said Tibetan culture is in danger in the beginning. That was the real message. And why would they ask people to donate fund to these very organizations they apparently maligned with their ruthless bad sense of humour.” on facebook.

“People seems to be jumping the gun on Groupon ad. So many Negative comments on several posts on different media outlets. If you look at their contents on their site, they are bringing attention to lotta causes that needs involvement.”

“I suppose any mention of a Free Tibet during the Super Bowl is better than none. Comodification is the way Americans understand things, and if Groupon donates to The Tibet Fund a little poor taste is probably worth it.”
raymonst

i’m disappointed in these groupon ads as well.

the whole kenneth cole fiasco was pretty infuriating, but i wasn’t that surprised by it… the brand is known to use shock value in their ads.
dongdey

@TheresaJohnson I think they did it in a poor taste intentionally to last in peoples memory since General American public got short term memory. Groupon has sites set up for donation to the causes http://savethemoney.groupon.com
Pingback: Was Groupon’s Super Bowl “Tibet” Ad Funny or Offensive? at jozjozjoz.com
http://www.erniehsiung.com/ Ernie H.

According to web start-up blog TechCrunch, your outrage is “faux outrage:”
http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/06/save-the-money-groupons-super-bowl-ads-may-spark-faux-outrage/
http://www.erniehsiung.com/ Ernie H.

Also: between this and the conscious decision of the Washington Post to call Amy Hsia’s article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” I feel like we’re in the age of trolling, and I feel like we’re the ones constantly being trollbaited.
http://twitter.com/JMattHicks JMattHicks

I have no Asian heritage, and even I thought to myself (after seeing these commericals), “I was thinking about using Groupon…but not after that.” I thought the rainforest commercial was somewhat bad form as well, although I can understand their attempt to be clever.

I’m all for being clever, but if I was a Groupon Ad exec, there was no way I would have approved of or signed-off on either commercial. That’s just not the way to go about being “clever.”

P.S. You may be thinking, “why is this half black/half white guy even here?!” But I’m a Community Manager for Livefyre, I get updates whenever any comment is left anywhere on Livefyre, and quite honestly, the content and conversation on this website is always awesome.
http://www.erniehsiung.com/ Ernie H.

@dongdey @TheresaJohnson I noticed that http://savethemoney.groupon.com link as well. Groupon probably feels like they’re completely justified making this commercial since they created the link to donate to charities, and it’s probably the way they were able to talk big stars into doing the ads as well.
http://www.erniehsiung.com/ Ernie H.

@dongdey @TheresaJohnson Okay, one more pullquote and I’ll keep the commenting down. This is from Time’s article on the subject:

“… Granted, you can—by visiting a website not touted in the ad itself—donate to charity. And granted, the ad was obviously meant to be funny. But it was meant to be funny by absorbing the audience in a serious message about Tibet, then cutting to a coupon deal. (Get it? We know you care more about saving on dinner than saving Tibet!) It’s not that viewers didn’t get that it was a joke. It’s that they saw it was an obnoxious joke.” Read more: http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2011/02/07/groupon-we-meant-to-do-that/#ixzz1DIoyxbA7
raymonst

@JMattHicks welcome

some interesting notes:
- the ad agency responsible for this is cpb: http://www.cpbgroup.com (note how their feed is filled with a lot of negative news/tweets).
- cpb is a global ad agency, but has no presence in asia.
- the ad manages to piss off BOTH sides (pro-tibet & pro-china). pretty amazing feat, if you ask me.
Pingback: The Groupon Superbowl Ad Brouhaha | You Offend Me You Offend My Family
Danny_Ahmed

I don’t really think it did anything positive to the Tibetan issue. If anything, the commercial seems to mock it. I’m not offended, but just stating the obvious. (as well as the poor taste with the ad in general).
blueronin44

Can’t really get the Asian American in me really fired up about this. Then again, I don’t really get fired up about much anything anymore besides Korean bbq, Pho and Mom’s homemade cooking. Believe me, if they ever say anything bad about my mom’s cooking I’m going Jesse Jackson on their behind.

Oh yes, Free Tibet!!!!
weemin5

So when exactly is the Groupon for the Tibetan restaurant coming out? I’ve been craving some fish curry lately.
Pingback: Asian American Commercial Watch: Super Bowl Wrap-up | Entertainment | 8Asians.com
TristanTandberg

Here is a funny joke I saw about a response to the edgy groupon add, http://ponderingstuff.com/2011/03/19/dalai-lama-retires-groupon/
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