Rejected Groupon Super Bowl Ad

I love this ad. It’s on brand, simple and still totally unexpected. The type of ad that you want to share with your friends (I sure did). Crispin Porter Bogusky have done a great job, once again. Except this time the ad was rejected by Groupon - the client. Yeah, I know crazy right, but wait there’s more.

So, I did a little digging and apparently the ad was “rejected” because it almost exactly mirrored the Super Bowl ad created by Groupon’s biggest competitor, LivingSocial. Now, is it just me, or does that seem like a very unlikely coincidence? Maybe I am being overly skeptical, or maybe this is an ingenious plan to steal LivingSocial’s Super Bowl thunder. Think about it.

I guess we won’t know until we actually get to see both ads and review the post-mortem in the days and weeks to come.

What do you think, coincidence or strategy?

My favourite Super Bowl ad of 2011.

What It’s All About

It’s not about special effects, celebrity endorsements or even clever copywriting. My friend Vinny Verma calls it finding the brand truth. That unique story that needs to be shared with the world, but only through transparency and sincerity.

Advertisements like this remind me why I have chosen to spent my time on this planet dedicating myself to the discipline of marketing. For me, it’s not about fancy titles, or corner offices. Instead, I want to master the art of storytelling, but not just for the sake of selling more products and increase billable hours. I want to find untold stories that need to be shared, and use every lesson I have learned and every tool at my disposal to spread those messages throughout the world.

One day, my time will come, but for now, videos like this will have to do in feeding my creative hunger.

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Special thanks to my colleague and friend Martin Delaney for sharing this beautiful video.