Tech

Gropes Off for Groupon: No New Adult Entertainment

Photo: James Brey | Getty Images

Sex sells, but not at Groupon. The coupon giant says it is no longer accepting new adult entertainment merchants as customers.

"We continue to test different types of deals in markets around the country, and run categories that represent the interests of each local customer base," Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler said in an email Wednesday to CNBC. "While we aren't currently accepting new adult merchants, guidelines for what types of businesses we do and do not run are constantly re-evaluated on a local level."

The coupon giant didn't say why it changed its policy, but Morality in Media, an organization that opposes pornography, claims it pushed the company to say goodbye to X-rated merchants.

The group launched a boycott against the coupon company in April in response to a deal Groupon reportedly offered in San Francisco that involved a tour of a porn studio.

"Over the last month, 20,000+ people joined our boycott of coupon giant, Groupon because the company was selling coupons to visit a porn studio," Morality in Media posted on its website.

Groupon did not respond immediately to a request for comment about why it revised its policy.



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