Christina Aguilera and Groupon followed in the footsteps of Janet Jackson with an embarrassing fluff at the Super Bowl
The history books will say that the Pittsburgh Steelers lost 2011's Super Bowl XLV ? but on the night the biggest losers were the pop star Christina Aguilera and the cut-price internet site Groupon.
As with Janet Jackson's famous halftime show "wardrobe malfunction," both Aguilera and Groupon blew a big chance in front of a US viewing audience of 100 million. But while Aguilera's mangling of the US national anthem was presumably unintentional, Groupon's attempt to use the plight of the people of Tibet as a marketing tool was all too deliberate.
Aguilera had the plum spot of singing the Star Spangled Banner before the kick-off of the Super Bowl and quickly drew ire for the cardinal sin (to many Americans) of getting the words wrong.
Rather than singing "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming," Aguilera instead mashed it up with an earlier line so that it came out as: "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming."
Messing with the national anthem is no laughing matter ? just ask Rosanne Barr, who caused national uproar with a ghastly version she performed before a baseball game in 1990 and has never been able to live it down.
For Groupon, though, the plight of Tibet is a laughing matter ? with the internet sensation bizarrely using that country's unfortunate history to market the company to a mass audience.
It was Groupon's first appearance in the high-profile stakes of Super Bowl advertising, and it appears the company's desire to create a fashionable buzz overrode its sense of decency.
Speaking straight to camera in the ad, the actor Timothy Hutton says:
Mountainous Tibet - one of the most beautiful places in the world. This is Timothy Hutton. The people of Tibet are in trouble, their very culture in jeopardy. But they still whip up an amazing fish curry. And since 200 of us bought on Groupon.com we're getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15 at Himalayan restaurant in Chicago.
Groupon's two other Super Bowl ads included Cuba Gooding Jr and Liz Hurley spots making similar jokey points about saving whales and Brazil's rainforests, but being far less pointed neither drew the immediate and savage condemnation of the Tibet ad on social networks and blogs
Rohit Bhargava, a professor of marketing at Georgetown University, tweeted:
Groupon seems to have achieved the unique feat of paying $3M to lose customers who previously loved them.
Professional snarksters at Gawker were also unimpressed:
Who is in charge of decision-making at Groupon? Because not only did the discount site turn down $6 billion from Google last year, they also produced the worst Super Bowl ad of 2011. And cast Timothy Hutton in it!
To insulate itself against criticism the website has set up a donations page paired with the Tibet ad, and will match donations made through the page up to $100,000 ? but only if members of the public also donate $100,000 of their own money, via the Groupon website.
In American football terms, Groupon's ad would be labeled a fumble. And as the Pittsburgh Steelers discovered the hard way in losing to the Green Bay Packers, dropping the ball is no way to score points.
Michelle Behennah Julie Benz Saira Mohan Brittny Gastineau Ashley Tisdale
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