In Spite of Fox - Go Daddy "Beaver" Builds Tremendous Web Traffic

Innovative Super Bowl “Ad for an Ad” Strategy Draws Record Visits to GoDaddy.com

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – You could use the phrase “busy as a beaver” to describe the Go Daddy Web site during this year’s Super Bowl. More than one million video views were tracked to GoDaddy.com Sunday and that was before the dramatic game even ended. It’s believed to be one of the largest spikes in Super Bowl advertising history.

Super Bowl viewers went online to see Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick’s “Exposure” ad almost on cue. They were directed to do so by Go Daddy’s televised ad, which aired at the beginning of the second-quarter. The long-awaited “Exposure” commercial featured animatronics beavers in a spoof of the paparazzi and certain female celebrities.

Go Daddy originally intended “Exposure” to be its Super Bowl ad, but Fox rejected it, insisting the word “beaver” be removed. Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons refused, saying instead, he would “make lemonade out of lemons.”

Go Daddy Productions went to work to create “Spot On,” which was approved for broadcast. It invited viewers to go to GoDaddy.com to see the rejected commercial and was essentially an ad for an ad, which was a first for Super Bowl commercials. “Spot On” contained a “Viewer Discretion” advisory – also thought to be a Super Bowl advertising first.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Danica’s Exposure is probably our funniest ad ever,” Parsons declared. “It is definitely our most effective ad in terms of immediate results.” The outspoken CEO, renowned for his marketing prowess, posted the ad to his blog, www.BobParsons.com, about 90-minutes before kick-off and asked readers to share their thoughts.

Comments varied widely, but no one can argue the commercial’s effectiveness for generating online traffic. As the post-game celebrations were being broadcast, GoDaddy.com was already reporting more than 1.5 million visits to its site. Those numbers continue to climb rapidly.

“We’re thrilled – think about it, it was one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever played and yet fans still took time to come to our site during the game,” Parsons beamed.

Traffic stats are expected to surge again tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 4). In past years, the Monday following the game has yielded traffic spikes as fans talk about the ads, and then go online to see them for the first time, or to enjoy them again with colleagues and friends.

To see “Exposure,” visit www.GoDaddy.com