Last year, Groupon attempted to branch out and appeal to a younger market with the Groupon Kidz Club. It was bizarre to say the least, but it slowly wormed its way into our hearts with a cast of ridiculous characters, like Pyles, FopTop and Roll.
Unfortunately, Groupon has neglected the Kidz Club over the past year since the release of the first episode of a cartoon series that introduced us to the Boring Brigade, E-Male’s deadly laser vision and the son of a Groupon exec named Question Mark.
Thankfully, the video is still available on Groupon’s YouTube page. You should watch it again to relive the magic:
The above cartoon premiered over a year ago, and there hasn’t been anything new on the Kidz Club front since then. In early October, I asked Groupon about it and was told that we may see a return:
@Phazonmasher Haha. Maybe!
— Groupon Lexington (@GrouponLEX) October 2, 2013
While that may have filled Kidz Club fans with hope, Groupon dashed those hopes yesterday when I asked them about it again:
@Phazonmasher http://t.co/kbMRXmTFMr
— Groupon (@Groupon) December 3, 2013
If you click through the link to the official Groupon Kidz Club page, you’re now greeted by this:
After that, I pushed further to only receive the following response:
@Phazonmasher It never happened.
— Groupon (@Groupon) December 4, 2013
It’s pretty obvious that Groupon wants to distance itself from its infamous Kidz Club, but the company never gave a reason why. I can think of a few reasons though. For starters, marketing to children is always a risky proposition, especially for online businesses, and Groupon may not have seen the engagement they wanted from parents looking for deals on products for children.
A more likely explanation, however, is that the Kidz Club was never really all that kid friendly. By the time the cartoon premiered, it seemed that Groupon was finally in on the joke if it wasn’t already before. It cemented the fact that the Kidz Club was never really about kids, and that putting resources behind entertainment for stoned college students might not be all that wise for the struggling company.
In all honesty, it’s easy to see why the Kidz Club was killed off, but it doesn’t make its passing any less painful. It was, and still remains, one of the weirdest things to ever appear on the Internet, and it will forever live in the hearts of fans.
[Image: Groupon/YouTube]