(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — For its fifth consecutive year advertising during the NFL championship, discount hosting provider Go Daddy (www.godaddy.com) has shot two racy new ads this week featuring IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, to appear in the Super Bowl, following NBC’s approval.
“We have two options and they’re both absolutely ‘GoDaddy-esque,’” Go Daddy chief executive officer and founder Bob Parsons said in a statement. “They are fun, edgy and slightly inappropriate; surely network censors will have a sense of humor, people could use a good laugh these days.”
Much of Go Daddy’s success can be attributed to its censor-aggravating commercials, which began in 2005 when its Super Bowl ad was censored by the network after running just once. It was a parody of the Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction,” featuring a scantily-clad “Go Daddy Girl” testifying before a congressional hearing.
Go Daddy’s market share basically shot up overnight from 16 percent before the commercial controversy to 25 percent. Since that incident, Go Daddy has been following the same technique with great results. The next year’s campaign boosted market share up to 32 percent. Noting Go Daddy’s track record, Parsons said, “We can’t afford not to do it.”
Go Daddy has since enlisted the help of Danica Patrick, 2008′s Most Searched Athlete on the Internet, as a “Go Daddy Girl” in its “edgy ad campaigns.”
