Super Bowl Advertising Paper

Savana Wiederholt
My chosen advertiser: GoDaddy
Advertiser’s Super Bowl History:
GoDaddy has been a loyal contributor to Super Bowl advertising since 2005. But for the
first time in 12 years, GoDaddy did not run an ad in the big game last year. However, this year
they were back and better than ever with their launch of a brand new, year-long ad campaign.
“GoDaddy is famous for its risqué Super Bowl spots, including memorable ads with supermodel
Bar Rafeli, but in 2014 the Super Bowl started shifting towards a “matured” Super Bowl strategy
that promised to wipe away ads with sexual innuendos” (Johnson). This year definitely broke the
tradition of supermodels and sexual innuendos by starring an average guy who happened to be
employed by Bullish, the agency that is behind GoDaddy. This years’ ad strived to include all
different types of people and empower women instead of sexualize them. Irving, who became
CEO of GoDaddy in 2012, said that “one of his first priorities upon taking the top job was to
launch a series of ads that portrayed women not as an object, but as somebody who represents a
vast population of Americans” (Bellstrom).
Overview of 2017 Super Bowl Ad:
GoDaddy purchased one thirty second spot that ran in the first half of the Super Bowl
(“Who’s Buying Commercials”). This year, GoDaddy released an all new ad that kicked off
their year-long campaign called “The Internet Wants You.” The ad that appeared in the Super
Bowl was named “Good Morning” (Adweek Staff). This campaign was about focusing on a new
product they released rather than the brand. GoCentral is a new website builder that requires no
technical skills and allows users to build their professional website in less than an hour, even
from their smart phone. “The thirty second spot is a rollercoaster ride of Internet gags with a
product payoff” (“GoDaddy Unveils”).

Savana Wiederholt
Description of Advertisement:
This year’s Super Bowl commercial was unlike any commercial that GoDaddy has
previously ran, it was bikini model free. Instead, to promote their all new website builder,
GoCentral, they decided to depict a day in the life of the Internet. The ad features a lanky, young
white man named Adam Carpenter who plays the “Internet.” The ad is crammed full of visual
internet references, memes, trends, and popular songs which fly by so quickly that it had viewers
watching again and again to try to catch all of them, which was of course exactly what
GoDaddy’s intentions were (“GoDaddy Unveils”). Some of these include a sneezing panda, the
blue and black or yellow and white dress debate, a shout out to the Grace Hopper Celebration of
Women in Computing, the ice bucket challenge, and lots and lots of cats.
When “The Internet’s” alarm goes off at the beginning of the ad, hundreds of letters fly
through his open window, depicting email. The character is covered in tattoos of internet
references, “www” is displayed across his shoulder blades with a Wi-Fi signal underneath, an @
sign covers his stomach, </head> and <body> are written across his neck, and #bicep is scrawled
across his bicep. The home is an old style 70’s home which is ironic since the internet didn’t
even exist in the 70’s. His closet is filled with blue and black dresses and yellow and white
dresses, which is a reference to the viral internet trend “Is the dress blue and black or yellow and
white?” I always saw blue and black, by the way. He makes his way downstairs to cats riding
around on Roomba vacuums (Bellstrom). The internet always been obsessed with cats and cat
memes, so it made sense for the house to be filled with cats. “I love stuff, give me more stuff,”
“The Internet” says. The internet has an endless capacity of information and it grows every day.
GoDaddy wants you to promote yourself or your business by putting your “stuff” on the internet.

Savana Wiederholt
“The Internet” hops in his car, which has a pride license plate, blaring “Never Gonna
Give You Up” by Rick Astley, which is a song that was made popular by the internet. He drives
past two people working on shearing a bush into a swan and exclaims that he loves their work
and knows a bunch of other people who would love it too. At the end of the ad, “Tom’s Topiary”
has created their own website to promote their business. “The Internet” drives off into the
distance with a troll in his passenger seat and a hungry panda in the back. I’m not sure what the
troll is a reference to, but I’m guessing it might be saying “you just got trolled by our hilarious
ad” because viewers will be watching it on repeat, therefore getting GoDaddy stuck in their head.
The ad was designed to appeal to men and women of all ages, so they made sure to include
something for everyone to push repeat viewing.
Agency:
The agency that created this Super Bowl ad masterpiece is Bullish, “a year-old creative
ship founded by Deutsch veterans Mike Duda and Brent Vartan” (Johnson). This was the first
time that GoDaddy had worked with the agency. “The creative agency focuses on brand strategy
and creative execution, operating on a pay-for-performance compensation model” (Oster). They
have three office locations: New York, New York; Greenwich, Connecticut; and Denver,
Colorado. Bullish partners with a variety of businesses, from start-up businesses and brands, to
private equity firms, to investors (Bullish). Some of their clients include GNC, Balance, Cupid’s
Cup, and Kiwi Crate. I haven’t heard of many of these, but I think that’s because they are a new
agency so they are tackling smaller businesses right now. There was a link to the Ad Week
article by Lauren Johnson about GoDaddy returning to the Super Bowl to promote their new
product on their home page. Bullish has never done an ad for the Super Bowl, so this ad was a
huge step for them. On the About page, Bullish lists “strategy, innovation, creative, and

Savana Wiederholt
investing” as what they do (Bullish). Bullish deemed themselves the “Most Dangerous Agency
in America.” They strive on creating things that no one else has thought of yet and investing in
early-stage businesses and ideas.
Teasers and Social Media:
GoDaddy released a teaser on January 25th
that featured cats riding Roomba vacuums
(“Who’s Buying Commercials”). Because of the huge popularity of cats on the internet, they
knew this short clip would grab a large number of peoples’ attentions. GoDaddy also launched a
microsite at the same time of their teaser release, www.godaddy.com/theinternet. On this site,
there are mini clips of “The Internet” being interviewed about a book that he wrote. There are
also plenty of buttons prompting the user to try GoDaddy for free with references to the “Good
Morning” ad (GoDaddy). I could not find where this teaser aired. GoDaddy released a “See
More Now” internet- only version of the video on their website on Super Bowl Sunday. During
the game, GoDaddy also engaged with viewers on social media (“GoDaddy Unveils”).
Offer or Message:
“Good Morning” unveiled a new product, GoCentral, which is an easier way for
inexperienced users to develop professional websites quickly and painlessly. The ad was
developed to release this new product. I think there is also an underlying message about how
strongly society today depends on the internet and how important it has become in our daily
lives. “The internet has changed how we live, work, shop, communicate, connect, and entertain;
homage is paid to so much of that in “Good Morning” (“GoDaddy Unveils”). GoDaddy also
aimed to have a large variety of references so that everyone could have something that they
could relate to and understand. Their number one goal was repeat viewing (Bellstrom).

Savana Wiederholt
Works Cited:
Johnson, Lauren. “GoDaddy is Returning to the Super Bowl with a Humorous Ad to Launch a
New Product.” Adweek, Dec. 2016. http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/godaddy-
returning-super-bowl-humorous-ad-launch-new-product-175123/
“Who’s Buying Commercials in the Big Game.” Ad Age, http://adage.com/article/special-report-
super-bowl/super-bowl-li-complete-ad-chart/306339/ Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.
Adweek Staff. “Super Bowl Ad Tracker: All About 2017’s Commercials.” Adweek, Dec. 2016.
http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/super-bowl-ad-tracker-all-about-2017s-
commercials-175124/#auto
Bellstrom, Kristen. “GoDaddy’s New Super Bowl Ad Includes a Hidden Shoutout to Women in
Tech.” Fortune, Feb. 2017. http://fortune.com/2017/02/01/godaddy-super-bowl-2017/
“GoDaddy Unveils 2017 Super Bowl Commercial.” Cision PR Newswire, Accessed 21 Sept.
2017. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/godaddy-unveils-2017-super-bowl-
commercial-300400118.html
Oster, Erik. “Deutsch Vets Mike Duda and Brent Vartan Launch Bullish Inc.” Agency Spy, Jan.
2016. http://www.adweek.com/agencyspy/deutsch-vets-mike-duda-and-brent-vartan-
launch-bullish-inc/100898

Savana Wiederholt
Bullish, Accessed 21 Sept. 2017. http://bullish.co/
GoDaddy, Accessed 21 Sept. 2017. https://www.godaddy.com/theinternet#slide5

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