And the winner (or loser?) is: Groupon
Without question, this dubious distinction goes to the Groupon spot featuring Tibet, says Imagination's Mr. Rogers. It opens on a beauty shot of the Tibetan homeland, with an emotion-filled voice-over from actor Timothy Hutton describing Tibet’s culture and uniqueness.
Then – inexcusably, Rogers says – the ad suggests that customers can grab all that’s great and timeless about this culture from a great bowl of curry that Groupon can help you get for half price. “This is a cheap shot on a very unfortunate scale,” he says, “especially for a company stepping out on broadcast television for the first time.”
Rogers says he joined a group of non-ad-agency friends to watch the game, and after the ad ran, the entire room impaled him with a steely glare. “It’s like they blamed me for the entire ad industry after seeing that ad,” he says.
