LivingSocial Kicks Off TV Advertising With Pre-Super Bowl Spot
The second-largest group-buying company did not get any playing time during the 45th Super Bowl today, but LivingSocial sneaked one in right before kickoff.
LivingSocial’s 30-second spot went for funny, featuring a bearded, gruff-looking man, who said his addiction to getting 50-to-70 percent off started a year ago. At the end, he’s wearing a red sequined dress with red pumps and says, “LivingSocial changed my life. It could change yours too.”
Talk about getting a man to change teams!
Groupon’s PSA-like spots were much more star-studded, featuring Cuba Gooding Jr., Elizabeth Hurley and others. Its commercials aired at around 1:30 PT for the first time, and then were expected to repeat again in the game’s third quarter and afterward, during “Glee.”
The advertisements were the first for both group-buying companies, which are going head to head to become the most recognized daily deals brand.
LivingSocial tapped into some of the $175 million it recently raised from Amazon to support the beefed-up marketing efforts. Meanwhile, Groupon was able to dig deeper, using a big chunk of its nearly $1 billion funding round to make a much bigger impression.
We’ll have to wait and see if either gets a jump in Web traffic. Neither had much of an obvious social component, although both will easily spread online, with YouTube and Facebook prominently featuring the Super Bowl-related commercials.
Here’s LivingSocial’s commercial in full:
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