by Leah, Deanna and Andrew
If you were one of the nearly 100 million Super Bowl viewers tonight, you would have caught a glimpse of this little gem; One of three controversial advertisements for the newest social savings group, Groupon.
Upon airing, a few people in the room with us gasped and cried, "that was so racist!!"
Now, most of us can agree the commercial was insensitive in it's humor, but we argue the point that it was not, in fact, racist.
The spot begins like a human needs awareness piece but is quickly revealed to be a sad attempt at self-mocking humor. By starting the spot off to pull at your heart strings, we are jolted awake when we are welcomed to join the "host" in indulging our money saving desires over our impulse for empathy. When he continues to cite the amazing savings you can get with Groupon on delicious Tibetan food, despite the political and socio-economic horrors of the Tibetans he JUST explained, we are left feeling empty and selfish about our care for saving money on such frivolous things. Although they are both true, by putting these two realities together, the commercial undermines both.
Now, the blatant labeling of the Tibetans as restaurant owners or as an always suffering people is a generalization, but we do not believe it to be racist. It is not judging Tibetans, nor making sweeping, simplistic statements about them as a culture. It's worst offense is bad taste and a poor combination of a serious topic and a mind-numbingly, short-sighted humor.
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