Groupon Pulls Ads After Heavy Flak

After its attempt to draw laughs in Super Bowl ads drew condemnation instead, Groupon first tried to tweak the spots. Now it's giving up and pulling them off the air entirely, reports Mashable. In one, Timothy Hutton speaks earnestly about the problems in Tibet, then adds, "But they still whip up an amazing fish curry" in his pitch for the deal-of-the-day site.

“To those who were offended, I feel terrible that we made you feel bad,” wrote CEO Andrew Mason of the decision to pull the adds. “While we’ve always been a little quirky, we certainly aren’t trying to be the kind of company that builds its brand on creating controversy—we think the quality of our product is a much stronger message.” (More Groupon stories.)