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Subscribe to RSSGoDaddy's reputation, and infamy, has been built in large part due to its lewd, mammary-filled Super Bowl ads. This year's, while still trading in the "sex sells" mentality, is a little different. But not so different as to fail to meet the expectations everyone has for a GoDaddy Super Bowl ad.
Featuring model Bar Refaeli in a drawn-out smooch with a tech geek, one of GoDaddy's two 2013 Super Bowl ads once again cashes in on sex appeal. Compared to its earlier efforts, though, this one is classy, even sweet.
The commercial also stars race car driver Danica Patrick, who regularly appears in commercials for GoDaddy. The ad opens with a statement from Danica:
"There are two sides to GoDaddy. There's the sexy side represented by Bar Refaeli. And the smart side that creates a killer website for your small business, represented by Walter. Together, they're perfect.”
Cue the kiss.
At the end you're not left hating (but remembering) GoDaddy. Instead, you're rooting for the nerdly, curly-haired, bespectacled "Walter," played by Hollywood extra Jesse Heiman, who gets to do the lingering intense kiss with the blonde Refaeli.
"I told Jesse that he's a very good kisser," said Refaeli on the TODAY show, appearing via satellite from Tel Aviv.
"I actually had this very strange dream that all my friends know about. I always wanted to go to a club... look around, choose the one guy it's most unlikely that I'll ever kiss ... and kiss him in front of everyone, so he will be happy and he'll remember it for the rest of the week," said Refaeli, who was voted #1 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list of 2012. "GoDaddy made my dream come true."
The scene apparently took 65 takes.
"We tried to get it as perfect as possible," said Heiman, who smiled and shook his head when asked if he purposely messed it up in order to keep the kisses coming.
Bar Refaeli, a 2009 Sports Illustrated cover model and the former flame of Leonardo DiCaprio, does reveal a hint of cleavage in her taut, pink cocktail dress. However, there's no wardrobe malfunctions or down-the-shirt shots. Make no mistake, the centerpiece of the ad is an act of sexuality, a long kiss, but it's less "Girls Gone Wild" and more in the awkward rom-com vein you might see in a Judd Apatow-produced film.
Has GoDaddy grown up?
Somewhat. They're still up to their old teasing tricks. GoDaddy said CBS rejected a version of the ad that showed Refaeli and Heiman's tongues wrapped around each other's in an extended close-up, footage which the company shared with our producers. A "non-Frenching" version will air during the Big Game. But Heiman was quick to remind viewers of the TODAY show during his appearance this morning that they can go online to see more than what will be allowed during the Super Bowl.
GoDaddy's previous ads have had Danica Patrick slowly unzipping her jacket and then appearing to cut away right as she was about to show her breasts. Those ads told watchers to go online to GoDaddy.com to "see more."
The first time GoDaddy's ad appeared in the Super Bowl, visits to their website surged 400 percent, and orders shot up 100 percent, according to data by comScore.
"I would be very much fine with the second one airing and not the tamer one," Refaeli said. "When we do something like that filled with a lot of humor, and we are joking about ourselves, I'd rather we go all the way." For those viewers who agree, GoDaddy will have something waiting for them on their website after the ad airs on the game, along with their ready and waiting online cash registers.
Leave a Comment:
Racy? They are kissing! And showing that nerds can get the hot girl, which is good :)
Personally, I think it's a tribute to women and the ability to look beyond the physical attributes of a person to find them attractive.
Personally, I think that guys one lucky SOB.
What gets me is why do we have to see, hear about and talk about TV ads for a game that hasn't even been played yet? I hate commercials in general and Super Bowl commercials continue to be lame and over hyped. But "in my day!" we liked waiting until game day to see them whether we liked them or not.
No need for an overblown dragged out preemptive strike thank you so you can try and stir up the pot.
Now there's no more surprises for the most part. Now you have silly controversy and racial implications before they even air. The Today Show is now tabloid TV with ten minutes of real news at 7AM and then it spirals quickly downward.
What is it with this Victorian B.S.? This is one of the most juvenile articles I’ve seen lately. I'm pretty sure most of us graduated from elementary school long ago so what's the big deal, it's not real it's a television commercial folks……... The news desk must be desperate for stories today.
Good for him... I have a new hero... AND he got paid for it... how awesome is that?
Have to watch a commercial before I can watch the commercial, Go Daddy should have bought the advertising spot before the clip, double whammy.
The Geek looks so much like a kid I went to high school with that all I can see is the kid from high school, if he lost a few pounds and put on tortoise shell glasses it would be him. Way to go buddy.
Lucky dude hopefully this will get him alot of tv roles.
America is going nuts over nothing. Our values are NOT values, they are intolerant peoples opinions that should not even be listened to.
Victorian B.S. and churchy stupidity combined with puritans idiocy. A fine country we have become!!!!
We are trying to get the morons in the Middle East to come to the 21st century, while we are permitting idiots, here at home, to make us slide back into the dark ages. WOW
I don't see anyone except the writers and news commentators freaking out about this... Who really seems bothered?
GREAT COMMERCIAL! Shows even nerds, or the assumption of being intelligent shows it is possible for a woman to ignore the outside. But oh, how I wish it was me, sitting in his chair going through those numerous takes.
I have watched NBC Today show for years and have overlooked some of your stories, because they really aren't news worthy. This morning is the end of my watching your show if you can't have any more grace and style. Showing the nerd and the model practically french kissing on national TV at 7:30 a.m. ET was a little much while I am having breakfast with my 12 and 10 year old daughters. Have some respect for others and THINK before you broadcast!!!!!
I couldn't agree more.....whether or not the commercial is appropriate for the Super Bowl, isn't the real issue. It's definitely not appropriate on morning television, so why replay it over 10 times?? We watch the Today Show every morning, but I really didn't want my 2 young sons sitting there watching that. Now I have to protect them from the Today Show?? Really??
You moan and groan about the commercial and then call yourself "hotmama." Ironic? If yu are having breakfast with your daughters, turn off the damn TV and have some quality time with them.
I don't care if they @!$%# on network TV, it's all natural human behavior.
I guess the fukwads at NBC are trying to get a rise out of the Christian nutjob crowd.
@John Bayner - from the above comments, looks like it's working.
Hotmama-7721185...
Pretend you're looking in a mirror, OK.. you post on the Internet with the moniker of "Hotmama"... and you have issues with a KISS... you must not be a very "Hotmama"... sounds more like a coldfish to me.
HotMama You could have simply turned off the commercial
That would require parenting, it appears hotmama would rather let the television raise and babysit her children. Next she'll wonder why her kids grew up to be idiots like 70% of the kids out there, of course she will blame everyone and everything but herself because she was such a good parent.
TURN OFF THE TV AND BE A PARENT
Why is fatmama or hotmama or whatever she thinks she is - having the damn tv on while eating breakfast with her kids? Show a little intellectual courage and actually talk to your kids rather than have the TV blather on. That's so lame. If I ever have the TV on during meals with my kids, somebody please shoot me...
Complete side note here but I hate eating without the tv on because then I have to hear peoples utensils hit the plate and hear them eat. Grosses me out. Anyone else?
I watched the actual ad... seriously, it's a KISS... what's the big deal? And he DOES look like a good kisser. I'd give him a go!
What does kissing have to do with web hosting? NOTHING!
What kind of customers do they want to attract? Porn sites, spam sites, etc. They go sleazy with their ads and their clients.
I wouldn't have known about the kiss or the ad but once again Today gets into the toilet and plays to the stupidest viewer or they are getting a cut!
What if you're hosting a dating website?
Or RateMyKiss.com?
Then it might have something to do with it. But the whole point of these commercials is make you remember who's commercial it is.
sea2see: did you just crawl out of a cave, or your momma's basement?
Sex has been used in advertising since there has been advertising.
Since you were viewing the Today show, what does that make you?
The outrage on this is ridiculous. It is a KISS. A passionate kiss, but just a kiss. Where is the outrage over the excessive violence on TV? In the United States its acceptable to show people getting injured and even murdered in cold blood, but if there is anything like human touch between adults, folks get all freaked out. Perhaps there is some weird social convention about the heavy nerd kissing the supermodel. Which is actually worse. In our country more healthy touch is what we need. Our nation is a mess.
It does seem strange, especially when you consider that ordinarily TV traditionally gets raunchier when a dem is in the WH and more artificially prim and proper when a repub gets in there.
But, I think what is really going on here with these ads is it is all part of the marketing ploy. You used to have to wait for the Super Bowl to find out what the ads were. Now, you've got a bunch of ads being released ahead of time, and in this case, two versions of it actually being made, for the express purpose of creating pre-game publicity. Let's face it, it's working! For the price of a 30 second commercial, Go-Daddy has free publicity on the Today Show and elsewhere. So, in reality, there is no controversy. It's all a planned campaign which is working well.
Of course, NBC and the networks are probably being paid extra to spur the controversy on. Since when have libs ever been concerned about something being too "racy?"
witchrunner,
"ordinarily TV traditionally gets raunchier when a dem is in the WH and more artificially prim and proper when a repub gets in there"
Do you have any facts whatsoever to back this up, or is it just another one of those statements that "feels right" because you want to believe it is true?
So, you really don't believe that the executive departments get their directives from the head of the executive branch? Do you really think the EPA would be pushing for cap and tax if the President was against it?
Do these whiners about TV ads not have anything better to do? If you don't like the ads turn the channel. If you think "they" are racist against your former country pack your bags and go back to where you came from if it is so much better than America. Easy solutions.
coco: Why, you sound like you expect individuals to take responsibility for their own lives. That simply can't be the case. If you are insulted, it is obviously the fault of the one who you felt insulted you. If you haven't made the money that you wish to have made, it must clearly be the fault of those who have made more than you, and thus stolen from you what is rightfully yours. Surely you must understand that if you aren't making enough money that you shouldn't be expected to work harder or cut your expenses, any more than you should be expected to make the extraordinary effort of reaching for the remote control and actually pressing the button that would either change the channel or turn the boob tube off. You simply don't understand the US society. It is the job of the government to make sure that we are not offended.
Obviously, you expect too much from the average person. Surely, most, in fact watch whatever it is they watch and then look to government to tell them whether they should be offended or not by what they saw.
It IS pretty racy, I think, BUT if I had kids and there was only two choices of what I would want them to watch on tv, it would be this commercial, as compared to someone being realistically murdered and ripped apart, EWWWWW! :) I am going to the local Elks lodge to watch the Superbowl game, I mean, the COMMERCIALS that will be playing during the Superbowl game! LOL! Me not much into the football thing, I just got invited and the wine is good there!
What is this a cross between the Taliban and the Puritans? Is the VW Jamacian ad racist? Is Kate Upton's Mercedes ad too racy for TV? Is the Coke ad insensitive to people from the Middle East? Now this. Its advertising, pure and simple. Got to get your attention somehow. Lighten up.Don't like the ad, don't buy the product. I doubt most of the people complaining about the Kate Upton ad cold afford a Benz in the first place.
I love the "outrage" and the statement they did not have to show it 10 times. That is so funny. I guess they forgot how a remote works.
lol
They looked like they were eating each others faces.
I bet her bush, if she still has one, is the same color as his afro.
lmao thats @!$%#ed up
I wish ads like this made people re-think the emphasis our society places on "hotness." And I doubt you'll ever see an ad with the stereotypes reversed by gender. This one is at least far more human than the fembot ads of years past. It doesn't offend me at all.
This is all Obama's fault.
Hes redistributing poon.
^HAHAHAHA
I would have chosen Mitch McConnell as the guy just to make it even more uncomfortable but, hey everyone has to make a living not just Brad Pitt.
It's a Superbowl commercial, they are appealing to a half drunk crowd celebrating a modern day Colosseum mindset.
Give em Circus and bread because there's money being made here!
More manufactured controversy. Why even bother coming to this site?
It just goes to show that people haven't changed a bit and only focus on physical appearance as the acceptable standard of "beauty" or "handsomeness." That's the only reason this ad, tame by GoDaddy standards, is causing controversy. If it were a hot, hunky guy, instead of the stereotyped nerdy guy, everyone would think the commercial was hot and exciting. Come on folks, we've seen worse, more gross, sexier, more titilating, nothing left to the imagination on network prime time programs. This commercial is mild compared to that. Because we're all talking about it, GoDaddy, once again wins. Their mission was accomplished.
TOO LATE! it gives the nerd herd hope & strength. They will destroy us all!
The goal of advertisers is to make sure we remember their commercials. Too bad, because "remembering" doesn't make me a consumer. In fact, if a commercial offends me I'll remember to NOT patronize the business.
Advertisers' emphasis should be on what it would take to persuade me to be a consumer.
I know, I'm not the average American.
She's a coward jew girl from Israel. Got out of her army duty because you know..."celebrities have lives and stuff"........Who cares who she slurps on?
Watercooler hangover past time conversation...
Who cares about stupid commercials? A commercial means it's time to change the channel or mute the tv and go fix a sandwich, refresh my dip, or take a pee. I'm already paying for cable - if I can help it, I'm not going to pay to be advertised to.
Nerds, geeks, and dweebs rejoice.
The Today show is a joke.