Still kinda bummed out from the actual game. The Eagles had it very much in their hands. But four turnovers and horrible time management in the final period- meaning, Collective Sense of Panic In Facing a True Dynasty- set in for them. Props to the Pats for doing what was necessary almost every time it was necessary. Meanwhile, my three favorite commercials from an extraordinarily lackluster collection: Anheuser-Busch (military personnel applauded in an airport;) Diet Pepsi (P. Diddy's New Ride- excellent satire on social trends;) the seasoned citizens getting ready to party in Vegas (you go girl.) Honorable mention to Pepsi/iTunes (what was the principal product being endorsed, however?) And Sir Paul was magnificent- would have gladly delayed the second half for a few more songs. Alicia Keys doing America The Beautiful, however: sound of whoopee cushion. She looked fine, however.

I've heard other folks giving props for Alicia Keys - go figure. Besides the GoDaddy commercial, the Tabasco hot sauce/bikinis was also in the pandering category, but not quite as bad. My favorite was the NFL players singing "Tomorrow". Just awesome. I also was glad to see MC Hammer making some coin. He's had it rough.

While the turnovers hurt the Eagles, it looked like McNabb just ran out of gas at the end of the game. They showed him on the sidelines in the fourth quarter, and he looked punch-drunk and dazed. He took quite a beating, and it made a difference at the end of the game. The Pats did a much better job protecting Brady, and he had enough to lead his team in the second half to victory.

To each his own. Since it was a parody, I found it funny and hittng the mark.

Are Americans--men in particular--so completely overtaken by that thing between their legs that sex is the only to which companies need to appeal?

It wasn't about appealing to men's baser nature. Not totally anyway. It was about causing a controversy. You said it yourself. The GoDaddy spot is the most talked about right now. And it doesn't matter what is said as long as it gets there brand in the public mind set. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Lastly, to answer your question: DUH.

I have to admit, I thought the commercial was pretty cool.

Theres always namecheap.com

Ugh, TVs and radios have these kick-*ss little knobs and buttons that are for changing stations and turning the power off. Use them if you're offended. Quit thinking because YOU can't handle the images/words, that EVERYONE should have to abide by the same sensitivities.

There certainly IS such a thing as bad publicity. Even in a society ruled by the mindset of "What standards?" Research the situation of Hot 97 in New York and the advertiser pullout to see what bad publicity is.

and

The whole "just change the channel" ideology fails because when it gets to the point that ALL the channels carry offensive product, where then will you turn? Broadcast media is a public service, leased to certain compainies and subject to the consequences of public opinion. If it doesn't serve the public, even those who don't need to see half naked women selling hard drive chipsets, it gets yanked.
When you run out of "just change the channel" choices, the public has been robbed. That's why it doesn't work. What makes me confused is how those who want lower morality in media aren't satisfied with sharing the airwaves. They seem to want it everywhere, all the time, no matter what anyone else wants. Ever notice how most conservatives say "you can have the filth you want, just have boundaries."?

I've used Go Daddy for years and was thoroughly disappointed with their commercial. According to Bob Parsons, president of Go Daddy, their ad was supposed to run a second time at the two-minute warning commercial break, but the NFL persuaded Fox to pull the ad from running a second time. Interesting... I have never had any problems with their company and until recently was very impressed with what little I knew of Bob Parsons. See his blog at www.BobParsons.com.
PS: I love your blog, Nykola

I actually thought it was one of the funnier commercials in a very droll bunch. It was not appealing to "prurient interests" so much as it was a satire of something that richly deserved it. The shot with the commissioner with the oxygen mask was spot-on. People were talking like this little flash of skin was going to destroy the fabric of time and space, let alone society.

Mind you, I watched the original "wardrobe malfunction" in a sports bar full of very inebriated guys, and no one found it even remotely sexy. It was a vulgar, trashy spectacle that wouldn't cut it at a third-rate strip joint in Reno. Frankly, subjecting us to those two washed-up has-beens for a halftime show was the real crime.

-cwk.

Are Americans--men in particular--so completely overtaken by that thing between their legs that sex is the only to which companies need to appeal[?]

hmmm. think about that one.

If you feel GoDaddy.com should be "punished" for thier ad then by all means use your checkbook to send them a message and go somewhere else. In my opinion that would be a huge over reaction.
They sound like a company that offers a good service at a reasonable price. They have the drive to stay a successful company and from a marketing standpoint, this ad was a home run. It was meant to be on the edge without going too far. They did that through the use of parody.

When I was in the military our senior enlisted man gave me some advice. "If you want to get promoted, get in just enough trouble they remember your name but they can't remember why." In 6 months no one will remember this commercial but will they remember GoDaddy.com? I wiil.

I don't consider myself much of a prude, but that commercial wasn't just tacky, it was stupid. "Ms. Cappelli" can't even act. Obviously her main talent in life is waving her breasts at people for money. The lady representative in the commerical had it right: those things aren't real.

The Bud Lite commercial wherein a tech offstage accidentally caused the infamous "malfunction" was much funnier, if you want to see satire with humor.

Ambra, this post seems to have brought some of the lower elements out of the woodwork. Apparently the best they can do is the now-hoary "if you don't like it, don't watch" mantra, which was old twenty years ago. This, of course, ignores the fact that such a decision merely surrenders public taste to the crasser elements.

Each successive year of "toleration" has seen the public airwaves become ever more vulgar and explicit. How many takers on the wager that we'll see a non-simulated sex scene on an American broadcast within the next 10 years?

What the "tolerant" types forget is that the medium in question is both public and freely available. It's nearly impossible to limit access. This is what differentiates broadcast media such as radio and (old-style) television from pay-per-view, or even regular cable.

The latter requires a formal application to gain access, and payment. It's the difference between buying a copy of Hustler and taking it home with you, and seeing the centerfold on a public billboard next to the interstate.

Upon previewing my, I see M. La Roi has made some excellent parallel points.

For some additional information on this topic check out what Drezner has to say on his Blog.

http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/001878.html

Looks like GoDaddy was cut by Fox on a second airing.

I agree with Casey that the "if you don't like it, turn it off" approach will not work. First of all, I like to watch football with my little boys. I understand if I don't want to watch the playboy channel I don't turn it on, but if I want to watch football I shouldn't have to tune out everytime a commercial comes on. I want my boys to watch sports, but I don't want them to be exposed, so to speak, to the nonsense that the marketers try to throw at us.

I don't care much abotu the ad -- I've seen way worse on TV, even during sports. But I'd never use Godaddy.com for one simple reason -- they will NOT stop spamming me.

It. Was. A. Parody.

Come on people...

Can't remember who said it, but changing my site's registrar isn't that big of a deal. It's a simple procedure. When it's time to renew, I won't. I've changed around a lot so I don't have any particular attachment to GoDaddy. I'm not fighting a battle here folks. I'm just not doing business with them any more. Simple as that. Just like some people won't buy KFC, won't shop at Wal-Mart, etc. I'm not too interested in patronizing a business that would choose to sell sex so explicitly. Parody or not. Some things just aren't worth pardoying.

I thought the ad was hilarious... a well-executed parody... although, I can see why this particular ad probably should be shown only after 9pm.

I'm curious if people were at all annoyed with Annheiser-Busch's blatant use of pseudo-patriotism to sell beer... I had no problem at all with the opening tribute to the troops and the singing of the National Anthem by the combined choirs from the military academies... that was tasteful... but the beer commercial was just obnoxious in my opinion... I hate it when patriotism and the flag are pimped to push product... far more desecration of the flag than burning it, in my opinion.

An honest question: let's say more than half of a given "community" has no problem with Nicollete Sheridan dropping her towel, the Coors Light twins, MTV Spring Break, etc. At the same time you have a solid third (just for argument's sake) that finds such stuff deeply, profoundly disturbing. Who gets to define what "community standards" are, and why?

There's no question things on broadcast TV are getting cruder. Just wait and see what happens when Howard Stern starts airing on unregulated satellite radio. Besides, it's not as though this is new: read the Canterbury Tales or Suetonius or Juvenal if there's any doubt. Is the race to the bottom moving faster? Sure, but so is everything else. Really, what are you going to do about it? In my opinion, focusing on writing complaints and trying to get the FCC to issue fines is a rearguard action and no army wins by retreating. You're not going to succeed in changing the culture that way.

-cwk.

I'm a Christian. I'm even...a dreaded conservative Christian. (gasp!)

But I think some folks are really wound WAY TOO TIGHT on issues like this. Pick your battles. A "GoDaddy.com" commercial with no nudity and mild sexual innuendo (at best) doesn't strike me as something to go on full-attack mode for.

I'm not sure Christ would want believers spending exorbitant amounts of time 'outraged' over pop culture's inability to grasp modesty.

Um, who's battling? Opining? Yes. Battling? No.

Heck, without even delving into the moral issue here (on which I agree with you, Ambra), a solid case could be made to drop the registrar simply becuase they wasted so much money on a Super Bowl ad.

The ad will either A) bring in a bunch of new customers, leading to worse service for you; or B) be a colossal waste of money that ends up killing the company, thus causing you problems again.

"What makes me confused is how those who want lower morality in media aren't satisfied with sharing the airwaves. They seem to want it everywhere, all the time, no matter what anyone else wants."

What make ME confused is how those who want (cough) "higher" (cough) "morality" in media aren't satisfied with sharing the airwaves. They seem to want it everywhere, all the time, no matter what anyone else wants. It can be said to the opposite side as well and probably more accurately as far as I'm concerned.
The "filth" taking over all channels is not going to happen. I don't want what I may be interested in on TV on ALL channels. I just don't want all channels to have to strictly adhere to the most sensitive of our (Americans) views. I think it's repressive in some ways. It only represents one aspect of the entire public. It is the public air waves and the entire public should be able to find what they want in TV/radio/whatever entertainment. I don't have time to go into a complete dissertation into the logic of the long term affects, but it limits views and questions on so many things. It's ludicrous how tight these guidelines are becoming. I mean, why the uproar over one of the "Desperate Housewives" dropping a towel (no revealing nudity) and jumping in to a guys arms? So what? This is too racy for everyone? No, only the people that are more sensitive than most. It's an unfairly exclusive attitude. I didn't mean to go on so long, but I have to drop this one last bit. It reminds me of an article I was just reading where there are more court cases involving the Theory of Evol. vs Intelligent Design being taught in public schools. It's another example of the "higher morality" elitist trying to make EVERYONE adhere to their views. There's already places that are teaching religious aspects of our existance. It's called church and Sunday school. What's wrong with other people learning something different? We have to start accepting that people are different and they should be allowed to be different.

I personally had no problem with the ad, Ambra. I also support your decision to vote with your wallet, which isn't "battling" anyone.

GoDaddy.com is where I got one of my domains as well, and their staff treated me in a professional manner. I can't complain about them at all. That said, I would hope that the networks remember who their audiences are the next time they take money to run questionable spots in a television event that is technically supposed to be suited for EVERYONE.

Truth be told, the Cialis ad was a worse offender of my sensibilities than GoDaddy.com. Try explaining "erections lasting longer than four hours.." to a young kidling.

I sort of feel like the whole issue of sensitivity on the airwaves for kid's sake is a little bit of a crock. Although, I have to admit I've never had children, so this comes from a somewhat inexperienced perspective. The thing is, I'm sure not everyone screaming about this issue has kids or is actually concerned from that perspective. There are just some adult people who are overly sensitive to things they can avoid, but don't. In fact they seem to seek them out. It's often not a matter of "for the kids", but a matter of Christian sensitivity. I wonder how much of it comes down to parents not knowing how to and not being comfortable with explaining these things to their kids. We have a great deal of stigma attached to sex in our society. It needs to be toned down a little. It's causing a lot of issue for people later in life. If we can find ways to have open dialog about these things and become more comfortable as a society in discussing these matters, we'd probably raise mentally healthier children. On the other hand, since it is an issue now, we should probably keep it tame on the public airwaves. We can't make changes over night. Then again that continues to lead us in the emotionally repressive path. I dunno, it's certainly a multi-perspective issue.

On a side note, email is required to post here (as I'm sure you all know) but the site won't remember mine. Is there a trick? It remembers my name, but then I always have to re-enter my email.

Ok, Ok, I'm not going to get in the fray over this stupid, tasteless commercial. I DO want to talk about the most tasteful, excellent, inspiring part of the game -- THE NATIONAL ANTHEM!!! Wasn't that just awesome! Being a former professional musician who is a brass junkie, I thought the choir PLUS the herald trumpets were just out of this world. Now those guys can really play. WOW!! Let's have more of that. It was better than any Celine Dion or American Idol wanna be. That's how every rendition of the anthem should be. (Ok I'll stop gushing. But I wish I'd taped it!)

Well, the military bands aren't considered among the best for nothing! I didn't see it, but I'm sure it was great. Especially doing the piece they must practice the most and have the most pride in.

Well, the military bands aren't considered among the best for nothing! I didn't see it, but I'm sure it was great. Especially doing the piece they must practice the most and have the most pride in.

Are Americans--men in particular--so completely overtaken by that thing between their legs that sex is the only to which companies need to appeal

Have you seen European TV commercials? There are naked bodies everywhere!

The Super Bowl ad was really mild in comparison to what you can see in TV ads in most parts of the world.

And anybody who has been to Japan (the land of "compensated dates" between older men and school girls) would know that American men do not have a monopoly on sex-driven behaviors... Not by a long shot.

Yep, I have seen European television...it's worse. They also have an extremely decadent society thank for that.

Ms. Nykol:

I knock Europeans for a lot of things, particularly in the course of my work as a foreign policy pundit, but "an extremely decadent society" isn't one of the tags.

Many European cultures (yes, there is more than one) have a very open attitude about the human body, but that does not necessarily make them "extremely decadent" (their chocolate, yes, and thank God for that too; God knows I love my adopted country, but what passes for "chocolate" here is criminal).

It is my observation that we Americans are, again in general, much more prudish yet also more over-sexed and over-drugged compared to Europeans. If anything, I find most European countries a bit on the tame side.

Sex appeal is quite a natural thing. I see nothing wrong in using it to market products. I think it's a more honest way of marketing than giving us commercials with bad math and tons of itty-bitty little words that flash by in a nano-sec.

Besides, I think the commercial in quesiton was a decent jab at satire.

Welp, to each his own. We'll agree to disagree.