"Save the Money" turns into "Save Face" for Groupon

The Superbowl is quickly turning in a Superbawl for virgin big game advertiser, Groupon.  Sure the game was weeks ago but the fallout for poorly planned messaging is still raining hard on the brand.

Almost immediately after the [most offensive] ad ran, social media recoiled in horror and raised its voice of criticism.  Perhaps the best example

was retweeted by over 100 other Twitter users.

I hope you can envision the ad - call it back into your memory - because you won't see it anywhere, anymore.  Just to show the power of the Twitterverse and social media in general - this is what I found when I tried to view the Tibetan ad (the most offensive of the Superbowl spots) on YouTube:

The brandDR declares this a flat-line strategy.  Staying relevant in terms of current events that are important to key customers is important and laudable, but the execution is DOA.  "Dark" humor in ads may be an effective strategy, but not when dealing with a pressing social issue that has life or death implications on a group of people.