Christian Anti-Porn Group Groping Groupon
Bill Berkowitz printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri May 11, 2012 at 12:49:47 PM EST
Over the past few months, there have been hunks of bad news about Groupon, the original "Deal of the Day" web site, which currently has 16 million users. According to Reuters, the once innovative company "has lost more than half its market value this year on concern about waning demand for its daily deals and the company's accounting troubles."

Now, Morality in Media, a longtime Christian conservative organization is adding to Groupon's woes by launching a nationwide boycott of the company, claiming that Groupon is shamelessly offering discounts to businesses involved in hardcore pornography.

MIM's five-decade fight against porn

According to the American Family Association's OneNewsNow news service, Morality in Media, a five-decade long determined fighter against pornography, has launched a nationwide boycott of Groupon, accusing it of: "offering discounts on tours of the San Francisco-based porn studio, Kink, which it claims produces violent, extreme pornography"; and, it is offering a Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp package with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to be held at the Playboy Mansion.

It was the offer of an "employee-led 60-minute walking tours through a porn company's studio in San Francisco," that set off MIM's outragometer.

According to The Christian Post, "Two weeks ago, Groupon offered discounts on tours of Calif.-based torture porn studio Kink for the second time this year. It sent out thousands of emails to advertise the tour where people could view a live filming of sadomasochistic, torture porn.
Kink advertised that they had `young sexy teens who are overwhelmed and outnumbered ... who need to learn a lesson by multiple men;' women being `bound, whipped, objectified and humiliated. They are immobilized, caged and humiliated as objects;' women `suspended and tied in rope bondage ... tormented beyond all reason;' and women `naked, tied up, bound, punished, exposed in public ... who are taken to public bars for public humiliation,' Kink said on its website."

"It's definitely not censorship of commerce. Companies can chose who they do business with. And we expect Groupon to have more corporate responsibility and to not do business with companies that specialize in abusing, torturing, urinating on women," MIM executive director Dawn Hawkins said.

Regarding Groupon's Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp offer, Hawkins told OneNewsNow that "One of our young supporters forwarded me a picture that he took on his iPhone. The picture was an alert from the Groupon app, which said, '47 percent off party and concert at Playboy mansion.' And that was going to everyone on their contact list in the Southern California area, including children."

Morality in Media is a non-profit faith-based group that was founded in New York City in 1962. Its current CEO and President is Patrick A. Trueman, a former Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division, U. S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. from 1988 to 1993, and a former member of the secretive Council for National Policy and chief lobbyist for Donald Wildmon's American family Association.

Robert Peters, is General Counsel and President Emeritus of the organization, and its most recognizable figure. MIM's main focus is pornography, as it aims to "combat obscenity and uphold standards of decency in the media."

Speaking at the Fourth International Congress on Life and Family at the Autonomous University of Baja California a few years back, Peters claimed that "at least 10% of the world's population is addicted to pornography and that the vice causes many failed marriages." According to the Catholic News Agency, in his speech, titled "The Effects of Pornography on Our Children," "Peters noted that one of the problems pornography poses to marriages is that the one with the addiction begins to lose interest in his or her spouse and wants to re-create the acts depicted in pornography."

According to Peters' MIM bio, he has written articles for such publications as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, The New York Times, New York Daily News and Newsday, New York Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, and USA Today.

Peters has also been a guest on "Larry King Live"; CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck Program (before he moved over to the Fox News Channel and now the Internet); Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" (before Colmes was moved out); Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor"; MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "Scarborough Country"; PBS' "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer"; ABC Evening News and "PrimeTime"; CBS Evening News and "48 Hours"; and NBC Nightly News and "Today" show.

As of this writing, seven organizations have jumped aboard MIM's boycott wagon, Groupon removed the ad for the tour of the Kink studios and for the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp at the Playboy mansion, Morality in Media has established a web site and Facebook page called "Porn Harms," which as of Tuesday night had more than 89,000 likes, and, it is estimating that 15,000 Groupon customers are participating in its boycott. The group is aiming for at least 50,000 Groupon dropouts.




Display:
that Groupon, which I use from time to time, was going to be outed as a supporter of the religious right. I'm glad it's not! I buy video games, restaurant deals, and have been looking at some nice cotton sheets. That's definitely an incentive to buy them. Anti boycott, as it were. I'm not a pornography fan, nor even a fan of rock and roll, but my take on it is that if you don't want to go on the tour, don't buy it! Sheesh. Why is it that the religious right people hate all free choice so much?

by phatkhat on Fri May 11, 2012 at 06:53:39 PM EST

That's a mental image I could have done without. This article really shows the depth this group will sink to to remain relevant. I wonder how group-on will stay afloat given all of it's problems, but companies have bounced back from worse. Interesting piece.

by Hirador on Sat May 12, 2012 at 01:13:33 AM EST
When a person is studying and reporting on all the horrors with which this site regularly deals, a bit of slightly off-color eye-catching alliteration in a title can be easily understood ~ just appreciate it or ignore it. Indeed, a certain amount of black humor is probably necessary as a grounding in sanity. I have great admiration for the writers here who wade through hours and hours of stomach-turning material in order to report on it for the rest of us. If I had to do it, you would probably see a lot more foul and sarcastic language than this, and in general, I strive to use very measured and unoffensive language in my writing.

by MLouise on Sat May 12, 2012 at 07:43:35 AM EST
Parent
I get the humor, and being a college student, I've heard far worse. I guess this was the one joke that fell flat for me.

by Hirador on Sun May 13, 2012 at 01:31:55 AM EST
Parent




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