Between the ongoing quest for profitability, the expectations from D.C. officials, and the hacking, it seems like daily-deals company LivingSocial has enough problems as it stands. Apparently, it’s also earning a reputation as a discount merchant of death.
That’s according to a report by CREDO Action, a liberal activist group, which says in a new report that LivingSocial’s recreational packages that mix trips to a shooting range with trips to a bar are “deadly.” CREDO Action says that in the wake of last December’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., such deals are reckless products to sell.
“Promoting ‘an afternoon of shootin’ and drinkin’,’ as LivingSocial did in a typical offer in
Chicago, is not only tone-deaf to the anguished politics of the moment,” CREDO’s statement reads. “It is also monstrously, irresponsibly dangerous.”
In fact, CREDO suggests that LivingSocial should just be called “DyingSocial” for selling events that offer an itinerary of shooting guns and imbibing alcohol. However, LivingSocial’s past events of that sort have generally separated the two activities. Of the past deals featured in CREDO’s report, most started at a gun range, and later proceeded to a bar. The ad copy, though, was certainly spiced up, such as one event last year in Seattle, in which participants were presented with the opportunity to test out a variety of firearms, including a Glock 9, Smith & Wesson 9-millimeter, Ruger .22-caliber pistol, Smith & Wesson .22-caliber pistol, and AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles.
LivingSocial’s ad for the package, sold for $199 per person, offered “a day of revolutionary fun.” The boozy aspect took place after the shooting.
However, another blammo-and-blotto excursion, for LivingSocial customers in Chicago, had its participants convene at a bar, then board a bus to a shooting range in Michigan. That event included a catered lunch with wine and liquor tastings, though CREDO surmises that people could have grabbed a drink at the meeting spot.
In an email, LivingSocial spokesman Andrew Weinstein says that the company takes gun safety “very seriously” and takes precautions to ensure that it is not taking drunk people to firing ranges. “We require all of the participants in LivingSocial-led sporting events of any kind to sign a form certifying that they have not consumed any alcohol or illegal drugs prior to participation,” he writes. “Following the conclusion of some of our target shooting events, we have offered our adult customers an opportunity to have an alcoholic beverage with new friends and share stories about the day. We offer similar social activities involving alcohol after other sporting events, like whitewater rafting, once the activity is complete.”
But that policy isn’t stopping CREDO from posting a half-dozen protesters outside LivingSocial’s storefront at 918 F Street NW, where they are handing out fliers featuring the mocked-up “DyingSocial” logo and ad copy from some of LivingSocial’s past gun events. The demonstrators also point out that LivingSocial’s top competitor, Groupon, ended its sales of shooting-and-drinking packages a few weeks after the Newtown shooting.
Weinstein says that he is not aware of any such deals currently being offered in any of LivingSocial’s markets.
