Groupon - what's the deal here?

[Grall]

I've been seeing a lot of Groupon ad-banners here on B3D these past couple months. I didn't even know what the company was until there was some news a while back that Google had apparantly tried to buy them up and failed, but I didn't pay it much heed as I didn't see I had a reason to, plus the company had a faint aroma of spam to it I thought.

Anyway, today, out of sheer curiosity, I clicked one of those banners to see what the deal was. It offered all-you-can-eat discounts of 50%, and who says no to that?!

I was presented with a relatively simplistic screen with some graphics on it and two input fields: one for my city of choice, and another for my email address.

So it IS spam then. Or is it? Everybody hates spam, don't they? So how can these guys have billion-dollar revenues and stuff like I heard reported?

I'm confused.

 

[BRiT]

Groupon and many sites like it are based on the premise of offering you locally provided deals one per day. hence the asking for your city.

Once you provide the details, you can modify your email preferences to not include even a daily email, but then it's up to you to check their website to see what the deal of the day is.

Some deals in the past on similar websites were $20 Amazon Gift Card for $10, or $20 Restaurant Card for $10, or a massage therapy session at half-price. Since I'm close to two major cities (Cleveland and Akron/Canton) and a little curious about the kind of offers they provide, I checked them out and was presented with 2 different offers from different stores entirely.

From the websites I've seen and examined, it is not spam. Some of the sites operate on the premise of charging a small fee to the various companies that want to promote their offers.

 

[Mize]

Groupon is entirely reputable and also a large contributor and collaborator with green and liberty causes...

 

[Ty]

Yep, I've participated in Groupons before though I have to admit this comic is pretty spot on.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/state_web_winter/groupon.jpg

 

[Grall]

Ah, I see. Not really my kind of deal, I think... Anyway, thanks for clarifying for me guys, you rock.

 

[Davros]

It offered all-you-can-eat discounts of 50%, and who says no to that?!

Not fat people obviously

 

[Grall]

I've never stated my weight.

 

[Dresden]

Groupon is legit. Apparently, they're under fire, according to the paper, for their seemingly "tasteless Super Bowl ad."

Personally, I tuned out banners entirely on B3D. In fact, it wasn't until I read this thread that my eyes actually wandered into the vicinity of one.

 

[Mize]

Groupon is legit. Apparently, they're under fire, according to the paper, for their seemingly "tasteless Super Bowl ad."

Which they've explained and makes sense...they make fun of themselves and our society in a nearly insulting way to garner attention for causes.

 

[Grall]

I saw the explanation linked from somewhere, but there was nothing there explaining the supposed controversy...

Some americans are so sensitive today, it's like they expect they "have the right" to somehow walk through life in its entirety and not be offended, angered or annoyed by anything even a single time. Of course, they themselves are the golden rule of what's offensive or not as well.

 

[Pete]

You know how Kenneth Cole mocked the current Egypt demonstration, tweeting that they were revolting b/c they heard about his new clothing line? That's how people took Groupon's ads: who cares about trouble in the world when this deal's so great! It felt exploitative.

Groupon's commercials failed to mention that they're all about doing good, yo. A simple tag line at the end of their commercials would have cleared that up. There's such a fine line between stupid and clever, and Groupon's ad agency was being clever in courting controversy over what amounts to a non-issue once you realize that Groupon's nice and fluffy. I'm guessing they thought the initial negative reaction would be neutralized once it was revealed that it was actually the public that was stupid (for not reading Groupon's mind), and the initial bad press was worth the greater exposure.

Of course, they could have went with just making an ad so appealing that it'll generate positive press, but that seems to be much harder.

I guess my point is what prompted that "Americans so sensitive" bit?