Groupon Apologizes After Racial Slur Is Used on Website

Customers are using the hashtag #ShutdownGroupon on social media to encourage a boycott of the company

By Jess Cohen Mar 28, 2018 5:57 PMTags
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Groupon has issued an apology after a racial slur was used to describe the color of boots on its website.

Screenshots posted to social media show that the N-word was used in the color description of Women's Fringed Suede Moccasin Boots as well as other boots on the e-commerce site. After seeing this, customers have taken to Twitter to share their outrage.

Social media users are also boycotting the company after the description discovery and are using the hashtag #ShutdownGroupon.

"@GrouponHelpUS @Groupon you have some explaining to do new color choice selected by a racist employee? #ShutdownGroupon #groupon," @dnj1999 tweeted Tuesday.

In response, Groupon's Vice President of Global Communications Bill Roberts has issued an apology on behalf of the company.

"We are appalled that this language was displayed on our site," Roberts said in a statement to Cosmopolitan. "This product description was provided by a third-party seller via our self-service platform. Regardless, this is completely unacceptable and violates our policies -- to say nothing of our values."

The statement continued, "When made aware of the issue, we immediately removed the deal -- as well as the third-party seller -- from our marketplace. Language like this has no place on Groupon, and we're further strengthening our self-service controls to ensure it doesn't happen again."