GROUPON “Tibet” – The most truthful ad of the year

So that Groupon ad really seems to have gotten a lot of people’s knickers in a twist. Rightly so, I suppose, because it was rather dim and tasteless.

But what seems to have gotten decidedly lost in all the uproar is the fact that the ad was a perfect portrayal of the truth about what Groupon really is and will only increasingly become: a fast-growing technology that disrupts commerce more than it advances it.

Some have come to Groupon’s defense in the wake of the controversy by pointing out that, ironically, Groupon began as an online community focused on advancing charities and causes by aggregating their collective voices. Personally, I don’t see this as the primary source of irony.

Instead, isn’t it more ironic that this company had to change its business model from one of philanthropy to one that exploits the collective power of consumer purchasing to reach its true potential as a business? In other words, Groupon had to become a disruptive force of commerce (really it’s just Walmart’s low-price purchasing model based on volume, reincarnated online). It had to become the company it accurately portrays in the Super Bowl ad—one that really does drive down the cost of goods, thus squeezing and exploiting global labor and production—to really catch the attention of venture capitalists, Google and the like.

So rail all you want at Crispin Porter, but as always they found the true insight and portrayed it in their advertising. 

Only problem is… the truth hurts.

(Source: youtube.com)