Come on guys, you are clearly not idiots, so why do you think it is ok to engage in misleading advertising tactics to score a few email clicks and possibly screw a few unsuspecting customers out of $800?
Groupon.com.au today advertised an iPad 2 with Wi + 3G and a docking station with delivery for $169.00 knowing full well that the actual price for well over $800! This is not ok. Having already apologised for dodgy Bait and Switch advertising I’m surprised at their willingness to ramp it up a notch with misleading offers.
Groupon defended its actions via Smart Company by saying that they had “a technical limitation”, they said “we are one of a very few sites that can do multiple deals. But what we cannot do is show that in the email – it’s simply not possible.”” which meant they couldn’t accurately reflect the real price of the offer and were somehow forced to show a misleading one instead?
This is exactly the type of behaviour we will aim to stamp out through participation in the Group Buying Industry Code of Conduct – let’s hope we agree to a Code before this burgeoning industry’s reputation is irrevocably harmed by tactics like these.
57 Signals 
Typical, general behavior from companies still stuck in an outdated model of advertising. Traditional retailing techniques, with new tech ways to lure the customer in is exactly what I expect from the ‘old guard’ of ad world. Ho hum.