Sunday, April 29, 2012

KINK & Groupon vs. WOIP


The Anti porn group, War On Illegal Pornography (WOIP) recently targeted Groupon for presenting a coupon for the KINK.com Armory building tour. The Armory building in San Francisco has a lot of history to it. It has a castle-like appearance and was home to the United States National Guard. It also housed many sporting events during the 1920's. The building then sat empty for nearly 30 years starting in the 70's until it was taken over by KINK. For the most part KINK has left the building in its original state. San Francisco is the capitol for supporting GLBT rights and is a very friendly kinky community.

The coupon offereed by Groupon lets tourists view much of the building and get a history lesson. The tour also takes the tourists on some of KINK's sets and it may also allow them to catch a bit of a live filming. Below is the few minute article by the San Francisco Huffington Post. It also features a Youtube video following some people through the tour. Below that is a Youtube video by Dawn from "Porn Harms".

Groupon & Kink.com vs. WOIP

I am actually shocked that Groupon would offer this coupon in the first place. As someone with a media business background Groupon definitely took a risk by offering this coupon. Groupon probably does have more liberal customers as most of their business targets people in cities so I don't see their audience having a problem with this coupon. Where they could run into problems is on the Business end with advertisers. When Jersey Shore first aired on TV just a few years ago advertisers we're dropping their ad's immediately because of the use of language and aggressive sexual behavior.

WOIP wanted a statement from Groupon and they did get one, it just wasn't the statement they were hoping for. Groupon supported KINK 100% and even stated that exploring your sexuality is healthy.

Although I am surprised that Groupon (1) teamed up with KINK in the first place and (2) supported KINK after WOIP attacked Groupon and threatened a boycott I am also pleasantly surprised by Groupon.

I do agree with Dawn that KINK does have an agenda with doing the tour. KINK's goal is to drive in more revenue just like any other business that would team up with Groupon. KINK is hoping that by providing tours of the Armory they will reach a new audience of clients and get an increase in site memberships. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it's actually a slick idea by KINK to offer the tours.

Even though I am involved in the adult industry I will say that advertising with a non adult site like Groupon is walking the line of ethical decisions. Yes, their are adult magazines at 711 and escorts advertising on Craigslist. With that said, I do feel that KINK advertising with Groupon is a tight rope act. I am curious to see what the future holds with similar situations moving forward and if Groupon will regret their decision with WOIP breathing down their neck.

5 comments:

  1. "Groupon probably does have more liberal customers as most of their business targets people in cities so I don't see their audience having a problem with this coupon."

    Don't be so quick to assume that customers of groupon are more liberal because they live in cities. There are just as many on the other side and everyone wants a deal, making groupon appealing to anyone looking to save a buck regardless of their politics.

    I lost interest in your writing after that statement. Put a little more thought into your words.

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  2. Put more thought into my words over a liberal comment. I put lots of thought into it and even discussed this with one of my media classes here at school. Generally speaking there does tend to be more liberal people in the cities. It wasn't an off the top of my head assumption. It's a generalization that tends to hold true. Because there do tend to be more liberal people in cities and Groupon primarily focuses their attention on urban landscapes it would make sense that they have a large liberal audience.

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  3. There are larger populations in cities, thus more liberals. Not necessarily more liberals than conservatives.

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  4. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/us/politics/santorum-sees-divide-between-rural-and-urban-america.html
    I'm not a fan of either of these candidates but Santorum is trying to use the strategy of rural conservatives vs. urban liberals to his benefit. This article clearly discusses how there are more liberal people in cities and more conservatives in liberal areas. It's obvious just from life experience.

    Cities have a more eclectic feel to it and the people who live there are exposed to these diverse environments, communities and sub-culturese on a regular basis.

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    Replies
    1. Fixing an error.... More conservatives in rural areas.

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