Relatively new, inconspicuous companies have an important goal when introduced to the market- to notably position your brand and get your company known. Advertisers and PR reps stretch their morality thin concocting ads and publicity that will be memorable, infamously or not. Queue the cliché, “Any press is good press.”
Groupon is a company that was essentially invisible before they kicked down the doors of decency during the Superbowl XLV. Their parody to the suffering of Tibet was supposedly used to poke fun at their business, one that survives off trivial spending. Millions of viewers didn’t see the juxtaposition in such a comedic light and Groupon was castigated for their poor taste, eventually pulling all of the ads.
Their PR team had to have warned them of risky and unattractive consequences. There are questions and concerns that should have been addressed before airing.
- How many people have an emotional investment with Tibet and other grass-root organizations
- Is our advocacy for these organizations evident in the ads
- What kind of an image will we assume
- Will this be easy to fix
- Is it worth it?
Cleaning up this mess looked like a field trip to hell. Seemingly, media attention was more important for Groupon than brand image. Although, in 2011, all media is global media and marketing strategies must be designed to acknowledge that. I think the backlash was more than Groupon expected, because their crisis management wasn’t too solid. There were many routes that could have been taken yet their response didn’t seem thought out. The letter from Andrew Mason, Groupon’s CEO, assured that any damage done wasn’t intended and his angle for the ad was to be funny. He went on to point the blame at the ad agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, for their tendency to add controversy to their creativity. His words were defensive and poorly executed and Mason was criticized for it. Instead of implying “you’re just too stupid to get the humor,” he should have carried a more sympathetic tone. It’s important to understand the differences between values and ethics of other people, especially when you’re attempting to sell to a huge audience of key publics.
Now Groupon is better known and their business seems steady, at least in America. On the other hand, Groupon’s image isn’t exactly favorable by the masses just yet. Whether it’s the interesting approach to humor or indifference for sensitivity, the company was careless with it’s first major ad campaign. The role of PR in a campaign is especially crucial during the Superbowl; what people are saying the next day is what really matters. Either the PR reps were ignored or they were slacking.