Japanese New Year's Groupon Fiasco Leads to Media Freakout

Grid View

It seems choking on Mochi wasn't the only thing to be wary of in Japan this New Year's: Groupon customers who bought an offer from the Yokohama restaurant Bird Cafe from the online discount website were dismayed to discover their traditional New Year's Osechi meals were much, much smaller than the advertised picture. So they did what any normal angry person with a camera and an internet connection would do: they posted photos of the disappointing meals online.

500 people bought the offer for 10,500 yen (US $126); it would normally cost twice that. The restaurant says they were only expecting around 100 orders and have since apologized, but they can't stop the media shitstorm. News of the offending Osechi even reached the Wall Street Journal, who referred to it as a "brouhaha." Compare the advertised picture to some of the actual meals above, or watch below as some Japanese talk show hosts take phone calls from disappointed viewers.

Video: Groupon Deal on Japanese New Year's Meal Not As Good as the Picture

· Groupon Deal: Too Good to Be True [Japan Probe]
· Groupon Fails To Bring Happiness To Japanese New Year Holidays [AsiaJin]
· Groupon Deal on Japanese New Year's Meal Not As Good as the Picture [YouTube]
· All Groupon Coverage on Eater [-E-]

[Osechi Photos: SRC, JapanProbe, eva1118, Pismo, bm.iphone / Flickr]