Tibet has long been a source of consistent domestic and international tension for China, which established control over the region in 1951. The Dalai Lama went into exile in 1959 following an uprising against communist leadership.
Tensions related to religious freedom, human rights, development and political sovereignty have plagued the region periodically ever since.
"Just saw the ad, are they oblivious?" asked user Mofei on Sina.com's microblogging service Weibo.
"Groupon is doomed to failure now in China," wrote user Yageboo on Sina's Weibo. "Groupon's lax approach to the Chinese market is not going to work!"
Sina.com user cnbuff410 asked, "Groupon ... you play a 'free Tibet' advertisement during the Super Bowl ... do you actually want to enter the Chinese market?"
Vivek Kunwar, a co-owner of Himalayan Restaurant in the Chicago area, saw the advertisement during a Super Bowl commercial break.
"When we saw it, it was an 'uh-oh' moment, even for me," Kunwar said in a phone interview.
"There was nothing that we could do .. we were not even involved in the shoot."
And so once again, a US company doing business in China has to decide between human rights and their bottom line. It's getting old, especially since the prospect of a billion customers tends to very quickly remove any pretense of principle from executives.
How fast will Groupon apologize? Certainly before the end of the week, would be my guess.
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