Web Simple

Huh????? That’s the only way to describe this. Forget getting a deal on an iPod or a vacation. Now you can get one for having a baby. Groupon, the popular coupon company that gives deals based on group participation, has a whole new way to get customers: they’re asking you to breed them.

Groupon has launched Groupspawn, an online dating site with a twist. They will offer you scholarships for breeding “Groupon Babies.” Jennfer Van Grove, from Mashable, describes it as “Groupon will give out up to two college scholarship grants — of undisclosed sums — per year to babies who were conceived as a result of a little Groupon action on the first date.” Huh? First date?

According to the Groupspawn FAQ “You and your co-spawner must have used a Groupon on your first date and must prove it with a multitude of evidence: a photo taken with a newspaper with a date on it, testimonials, credit-card statements, blogs, etc.” They also start out by saying “Unlike the moon landing, Grouspawn is for real. It’s really real. For real.”

If you aren’t sharing your grand Groupspawn plan with your date, they helpfully provide you a handy list of white lies to get photo evidence your potential future mate. They recommend such lines as “I’m on a scavenger hunt and I need to take a photo with an extremely attractive person” or “I take photos because I lost my short term memory saving orphans from a rollercoaster accident.”

This definitely takes the cake for PR stunts. Even as a PR stunt, you know that there are people who are going to rush out and create little Groupon Groopies.

What some people will do to get a deal…

New Definiton of a Family Discount

If you have heard of any other weird stunts for online services (legal ones only please), leave a comment.

© 2010, Ian Bramson. All rights reserved.

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Tags: Cyberculture, Family, relationships

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 at 12:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.