We’re trying our best not to publish stories on 3D print “stunts” that are merely attempting to gain publicity, but this one is so ridiculous I have to write it up.
Remember Groupon? The electronic “coupon” site that in 2010 turned DOWN a USD$6B offer from Google to acquire them? The company whose stock price is down 80% from their peak with little chance of recovery? The company you’ve probably forgotten about four years ago?
That company.
Last week they tried to drum up some publicity by offering a 3D printed replica of yourself, touted as a gift for your dear mom on Mother’s Day.
Here you can see what they’re imagining: a massive 3D print of the “son” so that it can sit with the “mom”. The price, as per Groupon? Only USD$30,000, which includes a budget of up to USD$2,500 for their scanning team to travel to your location to capture the shape for 3D printing.
The “Perfect gift for Mother’s Day”.
Now I must say that it isn’t just Groupon involved in this stunt; they’re the conduit for a US-based reseller of a very reputable large-format 3D printer manufacturer.
The likelihood of someone actually buying such an item is probably close to zero, so the purpose of this Groupon offer is simply for publicity. And it would cost virtually nothing to produce.
This is a stunt and to me is disappointing, because the 3D printer is a good product and should be sold on its own merits, without resorting to this style of publicity.
Besides, what kind of Groupon user would have USD$30K lying around to casually print themselves? If you put them all in a room with a puppy, you’d have an empty room with a puppy.
Via Groupon
