Chesty commercial
too hot for 2nd half
NFL becomes steamed after 1st airing, prompts Fox to yank provocative spot
Posted: February 7, 2005
10:39 p.m. Eastern

By Joe Kovacs
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com


Super Bowl ad for GoDaddy.com included wardrobe malfunction

A steamy Super Bowl ad was apparently too hot for the NFL to show more than once, and was yanked from its paid slot in the second half of the game.

GoDaddy.com, an Internet domain registrar, tried to capitalize on last year's Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" scandal with a commercial featuring a buxom young woman whose flimsy top repeatedly comes undone while testifying before "broadcast censorship hearings."

While a longer version of the commercial that aired was rejected by the Fox Television Network, the aired version seemed certain to reignite the nationwide controversy that erupted after last year's Super Bowl halftime show featuring Janet Jackson's top coming undone, baring her breast.

The $2.4 million GoDaddy spot, which included no nudity, was aired early in the first quarter.

"It was scheduled to run also in the second ad position during the final two-minute warning," said Bob Parsons, GoDaddy's CEO. "Our ad never ran a second time. Instead, in its place, we saw an advertisement promoting, of all things, 'The Simpsons.'

"We immediately contacted Fox to find out what happened. Here's what we were told: After our first ad was aired, the NFL became upset and they, together with Fox, decided to pull the ad from running a second time."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told CNN/Money that league executives contacted the network after seeing the commercial, which they had not pre-screened. The reason, he explained, "was exactly what many people felt. It was inappropriate."

Parsons is looking for a refund from Fox, and is not ruling out the possibility of legal action against the television company.

"I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this over the next few days," Parsons writes on his weblog. "I believe that it's the first time ever a decision was made to pull an ad after it had already been run once during the same broadcast."

GoDaddy's ad among most replayed moments of Super Bowl XXXIX

The plot of the ad featured the woman testifying before a congressional-style hearing, based ironically in Salem, Mass., notorious for witch hunts among Puritans in America's colonial days. She was looking to be on a commercial for the Internet company when her spaghetti strap unattached from her shoulder.

Many people could not get enough of the ad, as its first few seconds were the most replayed moments of any commercial in the game, according to digital-video manufacturer TiVo, which measured audience behavior.

"Marketers who walked the finest line on taste still had the most success in getting viewers to sit up and take notice," the company said.

Throngs of people searching for the ad online this morning crushed the servers of Adrants.com, a site inviting comments on advertising.

The demand "pummeled our operation and we've had to move to a more industrial strength server," Adrants said.

On Parsons' weblog, reaction to the campaign was mostly favorable.

# "I am amazed that they pulled this ad. Is this the land of the free?" (Dirk Spiers)

# "I hope you sue their butts off. I was particularly watching for your ad after the two-minute warning and mentioned it to my wife when I didn't see it. The ad was more tasteful than most of the stuff that happens in Congress." (Lincoln Pickard)

# "The commercial was great. The guys at the NFL and Fox don't have anything better to do. You can see women anytime of the day on Fox with more breast, leg, and thigh exposed. I don't have much to say about the NFL cheerleaders who are shaking it for the crowd for more than 90 minutes looking very seductive." (Michael)

# "Your ad [stunk]. Just a cheap knockoff of last year. Sure, cheapness appeals to lots of people ... that's no surprise. Probably will in fact get some beer swillers to join GoDaddy. How about investing a tenth of the original creativity you use in Web services, and next year you'll have a far better ad?" (Jon)

A poll of WorldNetDaily readers about the ad revealed a wide range of opinions. While 19 percent of respondents said they neither saw the ad nor wished to view it, 18 percent said "I find ads for sexual-performance products much more offensive than this ad."

Virtually tied at 11-12 percent each were responses that "the ad would be OK for late-night TV, but not the Super Bowl with kids watching," and "it may have pushed the envelope a bit, but was still suitable for broadcast."

so lame. i really hate this country sometimes

Gimme a fuckin' break.

Even better..

Super "Bored" with Halftime
Monday February 7 5:10 PM ET

By Joal Ryan


If Janet Jackson's Super Bowl transgression was titillating the audience, then Paul McCartney's was boring the audience, according to viewers who lodged email complaints with the Federal Communications Commission in the wake of Sunday's big game.

A year after the FCC logged more than 500,000 complaints over Jackson's exposed breast at the Super Bowl halftime show, the governmental watchdog had received exactly two complaints by Monday afternoon over McCartney's fully clothed set.

In both cases, viewers complained of being "bored" by McCartney's 12-minute, four-song showcase of Beatles and Wings classics, including "Hey, Jude," FCC spokeswoman Rosemary Kimball said Monday.

Boring or not (and some TV writers did not disagree with that assessment), McCartney's performance was heavily TiVo'd, registering 5 percent more viewers than last year's Jackson fiasco, according to the replay-device company, and heavily watched.

The Super Bowl (halftime show included) had its usual hold on the TV nation, with 86.1 million watching the New England Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles football contest on Fox. That's down 4 percent from last year.

As an entertainment event, critics found the Patriots' 24-21 win over the Eagles as methodical and plodding as the musical acts and commercials.

Daily Variety likened McCartney's efforts to "damage control for last year's Janet Jackson incident." Still, wrote Brian Lowry, "Sir Paul delivered."

The New York Times' Jon Pareles noted that McCartney did manage to perform an unexpurgated version of "Get Back," complete with its references to "California grass" and crossdressing, with the NFL's blessing. "What was once mildly risqué is now merely droll," he wrote.

In USA Today, Michael Hiestand observed that the halftime show "returned to its traditional role--something that sits well with chips and dip."

The ads, which took almost as much heat last year as Jackson, also went down easier. Participants in USA Today's annual ranking of Super Bowl commercials sounded grateful for the lack of spots about four-hour erections and horses passing gas.

A Bud Light commercial featuring a pilot jumping out of skydiving plane in pursuit of a six-pack of the beer was the survey's top-rated commercial; Napster's lone Super Bowl entry, a spot comparing its service to iTunes, was the lowest-rated.

Commercials teasing would-be blockbuster movies received middling responses, per USA Today's data. Will Smith's Hitch was the highest-rated among the film spots; Warner Bros.' Batman Begins teaser the lowest-rated.

CareerBuilder.com, the job-search site, scored big with three spots featuring chimps--the commercials ranked fourth, fifth and six in the newspaper's survey.

Web builder GoDaddy.com's spoof on the Jackson wardrobe malfunction hung in the middle of the pack in the USA Today rankings. At the FCC, it was the undisputed number one.

No commercial or broadcast moment prompted more complaints--eight--than GoDaddy.com's, according to Kimball. (All told, the FCC recorded just 33.)

Also-rans in the complaint department included: Cialis (five viewers had a beef with the game's lone erectile-dysfunction sponsor); Fox announcer Joe Buck (one viewer wanted him "removed" from the booth); and last year's halftime show (three viewers apparently were still reeling from Jackson's breast).

Kimball said the FCC received two thank yous from viewers who appreciated the toned-down proceedings.

Apparently, sometimes boring can be a good thing.

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/eo/20050207/110782500000p.html

BORED with Paul McCartney!? Just goes to show how low our country thinks in terms of entertainment, or at least those 2 morons. Best half time show, from a musical sense, in years, and yet people still want to see crappy pre-pubescent boys lip-syncing and dancing like the little puppets they are. Amazing.

allllrighty then. they need to have naked body parts 24 hours a day on every channel until every last conservative looks at 'em and realises "hey... those are the same body parts i see when i take a shower" and suddenly realise they aren't so bad.


This is the same crowd that gets offended at ancient art because it shows the human form nude.


*shakes head*
where does this mentality come from?

I know, its sad.

I'd defend them by saying that McCartney isnt the first thing I think of with musical connections and sports, but nether is pretty much any of the musical acts that played the superbowl, since I can pretty much remember

so, I wont defend them. I will just curse at people, at least they got to watch it, I was stuck working all night and missed the whole thing.

Nobody's knocking Paul McCartney's talent. He's a fantastic musician. But who the hell watches the Superbowl Halftime show for music. I've got CDs, music DVDs, and concerts. I watch the Superbowl Halftime show for flash, glitz, and titties.

I was bored by Paul's performance, and I love The Beatles. I just thought his performance was missing something, and I was starting to think that he was lip-syncing.

Oh no, he wasn't lip synching. He was flat a lot...

Also, I caught the GoDaddy.com ad when it aired in the first quarter. I thought it was funny. I saw the extended version on the net. I could see why they were reluctant to air it. It was still good though.

Anyone else think the two "bored" people were just making a statement to the FCC that if they're going to babysit, they should also make sure we're not bored?

I still think the FCC shouldn't have to babysit...

I agree. I think the callers do too. I think it was just a thumb in the eye to the FCC.

Of course, a group with roughly 1 million members is the one causing all the drama about what the other 299 million should see...

I fucking loved that big tittiie girl on godaddy.com I want to squeeze the hell out of those beautiful melons and rub my face in between them.

Hooters Hooters Yum Yum Yum Hooters Hooters on a girl that's dumb

I didn't have a problem with the commercial.

You're so not FCC compliant.

McCartney's a hack, sorry guys. Although I preferred him to Jackson and Timberlake. They need to get a little more creative next year.

Once you are asked to do the Superbowl Halftime show, you are officially not cool anymore, if you ever were.

--PunkDavid

Hey I love big tits as much as the next guy (probabaly even more), but I thought it was a little inappropriate considering what happened last year. My one and only reason: KIDS WATCH THIS STUFF. It's a fucking football game. Wanna see titties? Go get a magazine or get online. It just shouldn't be on primetime television.

As far as Sir Paul, I enjoyed the halftime show. It's the first one I've seen in 15 years. Kudos to Fox for putting on a real musucian.

I like the way you think.

And TFR--If you think it's inappropriate on TV, tell goDaddy.com and FOX that. If enough people do, maybe you won't need the FCC to be a bully.