Groupon Finally Pulls Controversial CP+B Ads

Mark this as a failure for local ad firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Groupon.com has finally decided to pull it's Super Bowl ads created by the firm after public outrage. In the most controversial example, Oscar-winning actor Timothy Hutton talked passionately about the plight of the people of Tibet before...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

February 11, 2011

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Mark this as a failure for local ad firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Groupon.com has finally decided to pull it's Super Bowl ads created by the firm after public outrage. In the most controversial example, Oscar-winning actor Timothy Hutton talked passionately about the plight of the people of Tibet before dismissing those hardships to rave about the deal he got on Tibetan curry on Groupon.com. Well, you won't be seeing it anymore unless you take a college course on greatest Super Bowl commercials failures.

While Groupon CEO Andrew Mason first defended the ads, he took to the site's blog today to admit defeat:

Five days have passed since the Super Bowl, and one thing is clear -- our ads offended a lot of people. Tuesday I posted an explanation, but as many of you have pointed out, if an ad requires an explanation, that means it didn't work.

We hate that we offended people, and we're very sorry that we did -- it's the last thing we wanted. We've listened to your feedback, and since we don't see the point in continuing to anger people, we're pulling the ads.

Mason, though, doesn't place blame on CP+B, writing, "I personally take responsibility; although we worked with a professional ad agency [Crispin Porter + Bogusky] in the end, it was my decision to run the ads."

Though, the public outrage did help to raise $500,000 for charities related to the issues spoofed.

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