Groupon faces boycott

The daily deal site defended its promotion by saying the company that offers the tour is a good citizen of the community.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

The building is home to Kink.com, a website The New York Times once called “arguably the country’s most successful fetish porn company.” The site features videos of sadomasochism, bondage and more.

The Groupon deal is for a tour of Kink’s historic headquarters. Groupon bills the tours as an “innovative blend of historical and risqué trivia, much like the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institute after hours.” Guests might even see a live filming in progress, the listing indicates.

MIM casts the studio in a far different light, however. The company specializes in “live filming of women being ‘bound, whipped, objectified and humiliated,” MIM said in an email, quoting language from Kink.com.

“Selling coupons supporting the degradation of women is as low as a publicly-traded company can go,” MIM executive director Dawn Hawkins said in a statement emailed to PR Daily.

Groupon has responded to the criticism, indicating Kink is a good citizen of the community because it donates to youth charities.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.