GROUPON'S MISUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Recently Groupon has been caught repeatedly using Instagram photos without permission from the photographers. "The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the suit was filed yesterday by a photographer named Christine Dancel in the Illinois Cook County Circuit Court. Dancel says she shot a photo of herself at a restaurant last summer and shared the tagged photo on Instagram. Soon after, she found that the Chicago-based Groupon had used her photo in a deal offer for that same restaurant" (Zhang, 2016).

Over 1,000 Instagram photographers had their photos stolen and used in Groupon’s advertising campaigns. The suit claims that “Groupon intentionally creates the false impression that the consumers appearing in the photos are endorsing” In doing so potential customer may be lead to believe that people pictured in the ads are happy Groupon customers when in fact they are not.

The suit was filed because it is believed the Groupon is in violation of the 1999 Illinois Right of Publicity Act. The 1999 Illinois Right of Publicity Act was put in place to protect people from having their name, image, or likeness being used without their expressed permission.

Groupon’s stock value has be falling over recent years and the unspecified lawsuit can drive their stock even lower. This was definite misuse of social media by the company.

References:

Zhang, M. (2016, February 06). Groupon Sued for Using Instagram Photos Without Permission. Retrieved February 08, 2016, from http://petapixel.com/2016/02/06/groupon-sued-for-using-instagram-photos-without-permission/

ARMENTROUT, M. (2016, February 5). Groupon sued for using Instagram photos without consent - Chicago. Retrieved February 08, 2016, from http://chicago.suntimes.com/business/7/71/1306942/groupon-sued-using-instagram-photos-without-consent