I think I have a really good sense of humor. I appreciate snark, subtlety and sarcasm, and many of my favorite funny things walk a fine line between humor and blasphemy of various kinds. I love “Family Guy,” “The Simpsons,” Sarah Silverman, “Mr. Show,” “Dogma,” “The Aristocrats,” Hunter S. Thompson and David Sedaris. I love that laugh that comes after a moment of shock, the did he really just say that?!  kind of thing.

I also think Groupon is an incredibly creative business, and I was delighted when they finally decided to make deals available in my small city.  In case you’re not familiar with it, the basic idea is that Groupon makes deals with local businesses, usually for substantial discounts, and then sends the Deal of the Day out to subscribers via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. The deals are often on things you really want, and the discounts are deep. $10.00 for $20.00 worth of cookies at the best bakery in town is kind of exciting.

Last night during Super Bowl 45, Groupon ran an advertisement that managed to offend me, and motivate me to cancel my subscription and send messages to their corporate headquarters. The Groupon ad appeared near the end of the game, and while it gave me a did they really do that?! moment, I never laughed. Not even a little bit. Here’s the ad:

I don’t know why I don’t think it’s funny, except that maybe the plight of Tibetans is a cause near to my heart, one that I wish more people knew about, cared about and thought about. I was raised by a history professor who taught Chinese humanities and history, and I grew up biased in favor of all things Asian. My father and I engaged in serious conversations about what the Chinese had invented, and I knew my Confucius from my Lao-Tsu from my Buddha. I loved the idea of China, the Chinese, and a culture that had survived for so long.

When I began studying Buddhism and found myself most drawn to the Tibetan variety, I read with horror the accounts of how the Mao launched a full-scale attack on the peaceful race living in the mountains. Monks were slaughtered, monasteries were destroyed and the Dalai Lama was forced to flee from a beloved homeland that he will probably never see again. More than 50 years later, the Chinese government is still attempting to obliterate Tibet. As the ad mockingly notes, Tibet is beautiful, and the people are in trouble, their culture threatened.

Through identification with movie stars like Richard Gere, I worry that, at worst, the average American views Tibet as some kind of lefty, elitist thing to worry about. At best, it’s just one more damned thing happening to other people, far away. Odd thinking, in a country founded on the exercise of religious freedom, to look the other way while our government consistently refuses to offer substantive aid to a people persecuted partly because they are identified with organized religion under a Communist regime. The effect of Groupon’s ad to reduce the importance of China’s genocide and racism and make it seem, well, kind of silly as an issue. I’m still not laughing.

 Much as I have loved my Groupon, I have broken up with them. Call me humorless, self-righteous or knee-jerk; I can take it. For this cause, I can take it. If it turns out that this blaze of insensitivity masquerading as humor creates a buzz about Tibet, that people learn more, care more and act more, I may reconsider, but probably not. In a society in which everything seems to be susceptible to ironic dismissal, and it is more attractive to be hip than passionate, maybe I’m not all that attractive. I can live with that, and I can live without discount cupcakes.