CONCEIVING FUN

Groupon Spawns New Online Dating Service

By Elizabeth C.

Credit: Grouspawn ONLINE COUPONER GROUPON JUST GAVE BIRTH TO A DATING SERVICE AND IS CELEBRATING BY GIVING AWAY A COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP.

Actually, that's two $60,000 scholarships per year to users of its online coupon and dating services. Parents who can prove that they used a Groupon on their first date will be eligible to enter a raffle for a $60,000 college scholarship for their spawn.

"Finding love used to be tougher than finding a Waldo in a haystack,'' the website laments. "Now, finding a mate is easy with the Grouspawn Date Assistant, the antidote for the poison of loneliness."

The site makes a pointed disclaimer: "We do not encourage you to have children simply to be awarded the Grouspawn prize. This money is for your baby and even though we probably won't be able to tell if you use it for something else, it would be wrong."

"In all seriousness," spokeswoman Julie Anne Mossler said, "we want to do something for the children and are totally committed to two scholarships per year."

Groupon, founded in Chicago by Andrew Mason in 2008, has grown rapidly and currently offers deals of the day in more than 40 cities worldwide.