Now Go Daddy Asks YOU to Vote Online to Help Decide Which Ad Airs Super Bowl Sunday
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Go Daddy has two commercials approved by network censors for one slot in this year’s Super Bowl broadcast, 18-plus days in advance. That’s a Go Daddy first.
The big question now, which thirty-second commercial will air? Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons will let YOU help decide. The public is invited to cast votes online, starting today. Both versions are available at www.GoDaddy.com.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how people vote – I like both ads,” said Parsons. “I say we give the viewers what they want to see.”
Both approved ads are GoDaddy-esque, meaning the ads are fun, edgy and slightly inappropriate, as is the Go Daddy tradition. Both spots feature IndyCar’s most popular driver and Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick.
The first option features Danica taking a shower with another woman as three college students watch.
“The ‘Shower’ commercial is the one people usually pick sight unseen,” Parsons laughed. “It’s hot all right, no doubt about it, but the twist is what really makes this ad great!”
The second option, like Go Daddy’s legendary 2005 Super Bowl ad, spoofs a controversial issue. “Baseball” takes on the steroids scandal in typical GoDaddy-esque style. Its cast includes recurring character actor Booth Colman, who appeared in the original Go Daddy Super Bowl ad, and CEO Bob Parsons. Both ads were created in-house by Go Daddy Productions.
AdWeek advertising expert Barbara Lippert has a history of panning Go Daddy ads, but was unusually critical after previewing the baseball spoof. “This is lower than the usual Go Daddy low – it’s pathetic,” Lippert said.
Love the ads, or hate them, Go Daddy has a history of innovation when it comes to Super Bowl campaigns. Go Daddy’s first-ever Super Bowl ad in 2005 parodied the infamous “wardrobe malfunction.” The FOX network pulled the ad before airing it a second time in that game, generating an avalanche of publicity.
Beyond its risqué reputation, the company has generated business along with the buzz. Go Daddy’s 2006 Super Bowl ad generated unprecedented Web traffic. Its 2007 spot was honored by IAG as the Most-Recalled commercial of the entire year. Last year, FOX censors refused to approve Go Daddy’s “Exposure” ad, so Parsons quickly developed another commercial encouraging viewers to watch the intended Super Bowl ad online. The broadcast commercial produced 1.5MM Go Daddy Web hits before the game ended.
Clearly, the Super Bowl commercials have boosted Go Daddy’s bottom line. Prior to the first Super Bowl ad, Go Daddy’s market share was 16 percent. That number climbed after each Super Bowl campaign. Today, Go Daddy’s market share of new domains is an overwhelming 46 percent, putting Go Daddy at a level more than three times the size of its closest competitor.
This year, it comes down to “Shower” or “Baseball.”
To vote on which commercial you want to see in next month’s Super Bowl broadcast, visit www.GoDaddy.com. Voting ends Friday, Jan. 23, 2009.
To view Go Daddy’s 2009 Super Bowl Timeline, visit www.GoDaddy.com/SuperBowl2009.
About The Go Daddy Group, Inc.
Go Daddy is a leading provider of services that enable individuals and businesses to establish, maintain and evolve an online presence. Go Daddy provides a variety of domain name registration plans and Web site design and hosting packages, as well as a broad array of on-demand services. These include products such as SSL Certificates, Domains by Proxy private registration, ecommerce Web site hosting, blog templates and blog software, podcast packages and online photo hosting. The Go Daddy Group, Inc. has more than 33 million domain names under management. Go Daddy registers, renews or transfers a domain name every second. GoDaddy.com is the world’s No. 1 domain name registrar according to Name Intelligence, Inc. GoDaddy.com is also rated the world’s largest hostname provider according to Netcraft Ltd. During 2007, The Go Daddy Group registered more than one-third of all domain names registered in the top six generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, including .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz and .mobi.
