Update: Groupon have released their Super Bowl commercial featuring Tiffany Haddish ahead of the game. Watch it below.
This story was originally published on January 15, 2018.
One of the most delightful things about Tiffany Haddish — besides the fact that she is hilarious — is that we can vicariously enjoy the trappings of relatively new fame and self-made success through her eyes. That's what made her story about using a Groupon with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith go viral last summer. It's also what's turned her into a new spokeswoman for the company, landing her a sweet spot starring in a Super Bowl ad for them, too.
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In case you missed it, her Groupon story took place in New Orleans, while she and Pinkett Smith were filming Girls Trip. Haddish is a longtime fan of the discount service and planned on going on a swamp tour on a day off, and the Smiths decided to invite themselves along. Except they had no actual idea of what Groupon was and somehow assumed it would be a private tour.
As Haddish told it on Jimmy Kimmel Live, her tale wasn't really about how good Groupon is but rather how out-of-touch with the commoners the Smiths are. They remark on how long it's been since they've ridden in a regular car and worry about causing mass hysteria. Haddish, meanwhile, got high as a kite before the trip, not realizing they'd want her to drive.
"I thought it meant you had a boat you could take a group of people on," Haddish quoted Pinkett Smith as saying, before she explained, "We about to have $66 worth of fun, girl."Those might not seem like the traditional ingredients to catch the eye of corporate marketing execs, but these days no one can ignore a good organic viral plug.
"The Jimmy Kimmel link went through the entire company very quickly,” Jon Wild, Groupon’s head of marketing for North America, told People. “We talked about involving her in our business more and as we got to know her, her purchases and the type of customer she is, we wanted to find her the stage that is appropriate and here we are talking about her in the context of the Super Bowl.”
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Already, Groupon has given Haddish her own section of the site, where she recommends ideas for girls' nights out and describes what happened on her Groupon trip to Thailand.
"She’s experienced a lot, she’s now sort of on staff now, part of our team,” Wild said.
This particular endorsement only works because of Haddish's charm. Witness how Pinkett Smith telling the same story is cute, but nowhere near the thrilling ride we went on with her costar.