How Groupon’s Super Bowl Ads Could Have Worked
As you all know, there’s a lot of hubbub going around in regards to Groupon’s Super Bowl ads. When I saw them at my Super Bowl party, there wasn’t outrage but merely disinterest. People I watched it with didn’t dislike it because it was offensive, they just didn’t think it was that funny.
And that’s because it wasn’t, even if people understood the intent. The problem was in the execution and copy. If you parody, you don’t parody off of serious issues that people are sensitive about (Tibet, Deforestation, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, etc), you parody off of either real issues that are utterly ridiculous (like people petitioning Disney to add “Lost”-themed attractions to their parks) or made up issues like this one that I just wrote in 12 seconds:
“Rich white guys. They used to run this country, moving from social event to business meeting gracefully, enjoying the finer things in life, and seducing women far out of their league. But ever since the recession hit and anger grew among everyday Americans, these once proud portraits of American prosperity have had to hide their identities in unassuming attire – like cargo pants… But thanks to Groupon.com, me and 80 others are eating alongside these tycoons of industry for 70% off at one of their last bastions of socializing [ENTER NAME OF FANCY PLACE]!”
See? Point made. Concept achieved. Pretty funny. And you even get a hit on the bad economy and why coupons are even more important now than ever.
Come on, Crispin, you guys are supposed to be the shit (with beds in your offices and whatnot so people can stay late and produce groundbreaking work.)
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