Go Daddy to Go Tamer With Superbowl Ads

It's Go Daddy's second choice, but it's going to the Super Bowl.

 
Go Daddy Group Inc., known for what it calls edgy ads, will announce today that its "Spot On" ad has won approval from Fox TV censors and will run during the Feb. 3 game broadcast.

 
Rather than advertising the domain-name registrar, though, the commercial will direct viewers to the Scottsdale company's Web site to see its original, rejected commercial.

 
"It's definitely our way of making lemonade out of lemons," Go Daddy Chief Executive Officer Bob Parsons said Wednesday. "And I believe what it's going to do is say, 'Hey, we did a really great commercial, it didn't get approved . . . and here's how to see it.' "

 
The rejected ad, titled "Exposure," features auto racer and Go Daddy spokeswoman Danica Patrick and an animated version of a beaver. The ad, which Parsons showed exclusively to The Arizona Republic Wednesday, shows supermodels with short skirts and furry creatures emerging from vehicles, followed by Patrick declaring in part, "Go Daddy gives me all the exposure I need."

 
The approved ad shows Jack and Dougie, the cubicle mates from Go Daddy's "I Own You" ad, watching the big game with friends. Dougie ignores the game and fires up Go Daddy's Web site to view the rejected ad and "see it all."

 
Fox rejected "Exposure" because of the use of the word "beaver," also slang for part of a woman's anatomy. Parsons refused to change it.

 
The approved ad will run during the Super Bowl's fourth commercial break, Parsons said.

 
Fox also has approved a second Go Daddy ad, and the company may buy a second Super Bowl spot to air it, Parsons said. That ad, titled "White Light" and featuring Go Daddy spokeswoman Candice Michelle, also has an Internet-only version.