On the way home, I listen to CNBC on XM Radio. Dylan Ratigan, host of the Bullseye segment, had an interview with the CEO of GoDaddy.com, Bob Parsons. Apparently, the NFL contacted Fox after their commercial aired in the first quarter and requested Fox pull the commercial. Fox complied and the spot was not aired a second time.
When asked on CNBC why he thought the ad was pulled, Parsons stated that it was the NFL censoring GoDaddy’s parody of censorship stemming from last year’s Super Bowl half time show controversy. Watching the commercial, I have to agree with Parsons as this is the only rationale that makes any sense. Fox reviewed the commercial two weeks in advance. In addition, the ad itself was rather tame when compared with standard beer commercials and the coverage of NFL cheerleaders on the sidelines. Honestly, I think the NFL is going overboard here and the league appears hypocritical.
Additional info:
Was the banned Go Daddy Super Bowl ad indecent?
2 Comments
I agree. The only reason anyone in the industry would get nervous about any of these ads is the fun they poke at the FCC. On the other hand, if I was the NFL or Fox or any of the multi-bazillion dollar companies that rely upon the “public” airwaves to make my multi-bazillions, I might also be a bit nervous about overzealous federal agencies out for my blood, too.
Sometimes, satire is a bit too much for the status quo; don’t be surprised about it?
Now, think about the dynamic here. One of your bosses, one that brings you large dollar amounts of business, contacts you and asks that you not do certain things. You don’t want to upset them, so you stop doing what you suggest you stop doing. Economicially that makes a lot of sense.
Now, anyone with a bit of smarts knows that the publicity is going to make the entire situation quite larger than it actually is, and that the PR is going to be worth more to the “victim” than the original “crime” was. As far as not showing the second ad.
I don’t know; it rather seems win-win to me, but maybe I don’t quite understand all the factors in play here.
As a follow-up almost a year later, it’s amazing to see the traffic spike this post has received after the Super Bowl. Looks like GoDaddy is still great at creating tons of publicity via their Super Bowl commercials.