So then Jada said, "Tiffany, what the hell is a Groupon?"

July 21, 2017 12:25 PM

Comedian Tiffany Haddish tells Jimmy Kimmel about hanging out in New Orleans with Will and Jada Smith.
posted by Mchelly (29 comments total)

"You gonna buy a whole ecosystem?!"
posted by papayaninja at 12:34 PM on July 21, 2017 [13 favorites]

Jada Smith actually told her side of the story on the Tonight Show.
posted by maxsparber at 12:47 PM on July 21, 2017 [6 favorites]

Amazingly, it's pretty identical.
posted by maxsparber at 12:49 PM on July 21, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'll be the guy who says don't drive impaired, please.
posted by ODiV at 12:51 PM on July 21, 2017 [10 favorites]

This lady is really funny!

Also, I have a visceral dislike of Jimmy Kimmel from his Man Show days, but he's a great interviewer.
posted by lunasol at 1:00 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'll be the guy who says don't drive impaired, please.

Yeah that part of the story's not so funny once you actually think about it. Now that weed's reaching a new level of social acceptability there needs to be a campaign not driven by hate dwarf Jeff Sessions to the effect of "don't drive high".
posted by scalefree at 1:13 PM on July 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

I wanna go on a swamp tour.
posted by amanda at 1:18 PM on July 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

Not high, though.
posted by amanda at 1:18 PM on July 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

1. In at least a few states that have legalized recreational pot, some of the revenues go toward public education programs about impaired driving and other relevant matters.

2. She really is very funny.

3. I wanna go on a swamp tour, very very high, but not having driven there myself.
posted by vverse23 at 1:21 PM on July 21, 2017 [6 favorites]

Jada Smith actually told her side of the story on the Tonight Show.

Putting this side by side with the original is an incredibly stark demonstration of what lunasol is talking about.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:34 PM on July 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

As a person with a small budget - "We 'bout to have $66 dollars worth of fun, girl" is my new favorite thing.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:46 PM on July 21, 2017 [40 favorites]

And if you play your cards right, that can be a lot of fun.
posted by droplet at 2:08 PM on July 21, 2017 [2 favorites]

Champs Podcast: Tiffany Haddish

Really intense episode. Makes you appreciate her even more hearing where she came from
posted by jcruelty at 2:17 PM on July 21, 2017 [6 favorites]

oh man on my tour we were excited about pigs. To be on one of those tours with Tiffany's commentary?! amazing
posted by Emmy Rae at 2:26 PM on July 21, 2017

can't wait to see GIRLS TRIP. looks fun as hell.
posted by oog at 3:04 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

She reminds me of Jennifer Lawrence: an akwardly hilarious ingenue who is just as obsessed with celebrity as the rest of us. What a lovely story.
posted by TypographicalError at 4:34 PM on July 21, 2017 [4 favorites]

So I've been on a swamp tour. It's pretty great. Not a Cajun one, that's probably west of NOLA. The one I've been to is east. Honey Island. On the Pearl River. It's an amazing ecosystem. They say if the ivory-billed woodpecker did escape extinction then they'll be found on the Pearl River. I believe it. And it's not as desolate as you might think. Not many people live there but there were a number of hunting and fishing shacks. Lots of alligators, birds, reptiles, fascinating flora. I've taken the tour about a half dozen times as I've got close family down there. It's truly amazing.
posted by Stanczyk at 5:37 PM on July 21, 2017 [5 favorites]

I just listened to the podcast that jcruelty linked. Holy fucking hell. The interview was funny and well-told; it's true, I appreciate it all the more after the podcast.
posted by vignettist at 9:36 PM on July 21, 2017

That was awesome. She's very impressive.
posted by emmet at 10:07 PM on July 21, 2017

Saw this last night and loved it - actually laughed out loud in a few places.

Led me down several rabbit warrens including listening to Jade Smith talking about her past.
posted by greenhornet at 10:15 PM on July 21, 2017

This is Groupon marketing.
posted by pmburns222 at 10:30 PM on July 21, 2017 [3 favorites]

This is Groupon marketing.

Yes, definitely. Any time someone mentions a brand a bunch of times on a talk show they've paid them to do so. It can be pretty good money.
posted by Infracanophile at 10:46 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have a visceral dislike of Jimmy Kimmel from his Man Show days, but he's a great interviewer.

Which he did by, most essentially, staying the hell out of the way of a great story.

(I'm looking at you, other Jimmy, Conan, and yes, even you, St. Stephen)
posted by aureliobuendia at 12:03 AM on July 22, 2017 [6 favorites]

Whenever someone is like "wake up sheeple this is but a covert marketing tactic, mannnnn" that's how I immediately know they definitely do not actually work anywhere remotely close to marketing in any capacity.
posted by windbox at 4:55 AM on July 22, 2017 [19 favorites]

Very funny Lady.

lunasol
I haven't yet forgiven him for being Ben Steins boot licker, let alone sharing a stage with Adam Carolla.
posted by james33 at 5:48 AM on July 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Whenever someone is like "wake up sheeple this is but a covert marketing tactic, mannnnn" that's how I immediately know they definitely do not actually work anywhere remotely close to marketing in any capacity.

Yep. The underlying theme is the Smiths are millionaires many times over. Tiffany is not and Groupon is an obvious signifier of that. Funny story.
posted by girlmightlive at 9:19 AM on July 22, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yes, while impaired driving isn't cool, her terror at "I've got $280 million in the back of a $20/day rental car" is hilarious.
posted by TwoStride at 9:28 AM on July 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

Eh, I work in marketing and I can absolutely believe that Groupon paid them to tell the story.

I did some digging and it looks like they've been telling this story for months, which makes it more believable that it's a thing that actually happened.

The thing that makes it less believable is that there aren't any photos out there from people who were on the tour. Will Smith goes on a swamp tour and no one sold those photos to TMZ? Really?

CEO Rich Williams has been growing their marketing spend and this is exactly the kind of influencer activity that is effective as marketing. The Haddish version of the story is the most effective one.
- It hits a lot of benefits of Groupon ("$66 dollars worth of fun", the fact that she was able to buy tickets to get the Smiths on that morning, reiterates Groupon and mentions the name of the provider)
- It shows that anyone can have fun with a Groupon (the Smiths are fabulously wealthy but they have a great time on the very inexpensive Groupon swamp tour)
- And, as a side note, it also humanizes the Smiths; they see the world of "normal people" somewhat like tourists in a foreign country

And you know what? It was a great story. I honestly don't care if Haddish made money off it, she gave me a great deal of entertainment. If it is an influencer piece, please let us have far more influencer pieces like that. Marketing should be this engaging.
posted by rednikki at 10:08 AM on July 22, 2017 [10 favorites]

It could go either way. Millions of people use Groupon (and coupons in general), how they work is common knowledge. Groupon's been around for almost 10 years. To me, it seems incredible that someone would NOT know what a Groupon is, than that they need the benefits of one explained to them--which to me is the point of the story! How do you not know what a Groupon is, even if you're rich? That'd be like not knowing what a Happy Meal is.

But, oh well. If they didn't pay her, they should, if for nothing more than the "We're about to have $66 worth of fun, girl" line, because that was brilliant.
posted by Autumnheart at 12:29 PM on July 22, 2017 [2 favorites]