Groupon: What could have been

So you’ve bought a deal (or more) on Groupon before. You’ve saved yourself money, put some money back in your local economy and feel pretty good about yourself. Now you’re not only part of the Groupon customer community, but you’re part of the crowd of more than 100 million people (including non Groupon customers) watching the largest television event – of all time.

Here comes a moment you’ve been waiting for, the Groupon Super Bowl spot, and as a loyal customer and brand advocate you hush the room and commit your full attention. Or as a non Groupon customer, you’re just excited to witness the next 30 seconds of advertising brilliance or failure. Either way, here it comes…

Andrew Mason, Groupon CEO, appears on screen.

“Hi. I’m Andrew Mason, Founder and CEO of Groupon, the provider of unbeatable daily deals straight to your inbox.”

“Groupon’s roots are in social activism and we would like to highlight four worthwhile organizations that you can support just by doing what you already do – buying Groupons.”

“Sign up on groupon.com and donate to Greenpeace, buildOn, The Tibet Fund or the Rainforest Action Network, and Groupon will either match your donation or give you the equivalent amount in Groupon credit.”

“These mission-driven organizations enjoy saving money as much as you do.”

“So please, save more than money. Save more with Groupon.”

Groupon’s logo and website show on screen before fading out.

Previous Groupon customers: Thought you felt good about yourself before?

New Groupon customers: How easy was that sign up process?

What could have been…

Would my version have won an Emmy? Absolutely not. Would my version have won the #brandbowl? Absolutely not. Would my version have lost any customers? Absolutely not. Would my version have the CEO focusing on non apologetic blog posts rather than advancing (what could have been) a great PR/customer acquisition campaign? Absolutely not.

My disgust in the Groupon commercials stems not only from the insensitivity to such important issues but also for the ignorance of the Tibet spot while trying to break into the Chinese market (a separate and even more obnoxious issue). I’ll let common sense play out the rest of these two arguments.

Instead, “Fuck it! We know you’d rather buy a deal you selfish bastard! So c’mon and save the money with me!” is the message I got from all three of the current campaign (I use that term loosely) videos on Groupon’s site.

I hate to say the company’s youth has finally shown itself, but that’s way nicer than what I’m actually thinking and this truly was an adolescent attempt at a stunt.

In summary: Groupon had a great idea (charities) and overcomplicated it by *attempting* to be cute and cheeky. If they had kept it simple and to the point, I believe it could have stole the show. In hindsight, it’s obvious this was their first time (that’s what she said). See what I did there? I pulled a Groupon.

“Save more than money. Save more with Groupon.” << Why don’t I get paid for stuff like this?!

Food for more thought (did they learn from Kenneth Cole?):

“It’s been exceedingly effective,” Miles Nadal, chairman and CEO of one of the largest ad agencies in the world, MDC Partners which owns Crispin Porter, the firm that made the Groupon commercial, told CNBC on Monday.