Our Peaceful Protest Got a Surprise Visit From Chicago Police–Here’s What Happened

Last month, Groupon’s leadership team held in-person strategic meetings at its Chicago headquarters and hosted its annual holiday party at AceBounce, a local ping-pong bar.

Seizing this opportunity, our team quickly put together a series of tactics to keep our campaign at Groupon’s doorstep. Groupon continues to sell to venues where animals like dolphins and elephants are mistreated for entertainment and profit. We are urging the company to publish an animal welfare policy that prohibits these deals and to stop profiting from animal cruelty. As of January 21, our research shows that Groupon only sells 20 unethical deals, including SeaWorld. Many deals have been removed since our campaign started.   

We launched the week with a mobile billboard truck that drove around Chicago and parked in front of the company’s headquarters. The video included animal sounds, including orca and monkey calls, that could be heard within a two-block radius.  

To disrupt the holiday party, World Animal Protection volunteers and staff demonstrated outside AceBounce with our signs, leaflets, and a billboard truck. Groupon employees were surprised to see us, but after learning why we were there, the majority shared their support for our campaign.

Shortly after our demonstration began, around 20 police officers showed up, asking us to move further away from AceBounce’s entrance. We asserted that if we weren’t blocking the venue's entrance, we were allowed to protest legally (this is the general rule for protesting in many cities across the country). After an hour, most of the officers left, and we continued demonstrating.

We are urging our supporters and everyone who cares about animals to boycott Groupon until the company adopts an animal welfare policy that protects animals rather than exploits them. 

Stay tuned for what we do next.