That picture is of The Potala Palace, former residence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, until the 14th Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India in 1959. It’s a poignant symbol and reminder of the turmoil and struggles that Tibet and its people face.
This dumbass Super Bowl commercial from Groupon, however, is not.
It’s so ridiculous. The commercial starts off with a shot of The Potala Palace, and talks about the many problems in Tibet, including cultural genocide. Then, for some inexplicable reason (okay, not inexplicable–because Groupon and whoever came up with this ad are a bunch of money-grubbing idiots), it does a 180 and says, “But hey, at least Tibet makes great food! And you can get it for cheap if you go to Groupon!” It’s a slap in the face of the Tibetan struggle. What the hell, Groupon. And check out their lameass email, sent out in response to complaints:
Hi _________
Thanks for your email.
We certainly don’t mean to offend with our advertisements.
We encourage you to read our CEO’s blog about why we ran these ads here: http://www.groupon.com/blog/cities/groupon-super-bowl-ads/
We’re proud to raise awareness and funds for organizations who are doing work around these causes. Please go to http://savethemoney.org and you will have the opportunity to donate to any of these causes. Groupon will gladly match your donation.
Additionally, we do occasionally feature other real charities on our site, so if you have any suggestions for us, please let us know here: http://groupon.sponsorships.sgizmo.com
Thanks for your feedback. Let me know if you have any other suggestions or questions.
Regards,
Jon M
[email protected]
Oh, really.
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