I'm sure all of you have seen at least one or more GoDaddy.com advertisement, whether it's the Superbowl commercial that gained quite a bit of publicity last year or just one of their many other classically sexist ads. Recently, they've actually altered their campaign strategy due to moderate backlash involving some particularly controversial ads, but some of the propaganda of the past is not only eye-roll-inducing but infuriating.
Here are my biggest issues:
1) The GoDaddy ads aren't even creative. In no way do they try to hide their overt sexism, which essentially portrays women as dumb pieces of meat. No form of sexism is okay, but it's so typical, it's particularly annoying. And the fact that they think they can get away with such obvious exploitation of women is unacceptable.
2) The GoDaddy spokeswoman (or "GoDaddy girl" as she is often referred to) is Danica Patrick. Patrick is one of the first women to really make a name for herself in the world of professional race car driving. When I was younger, I would go to IndyCar races with my dad once or twice a year for some father-daughter bonding. I remember waiting in line with my dad to meet and get the autographs of several of the drivers. Danica Patrick was one of them, and I thought she was the absolute coolest because she was a woman doing what she loved in a field that was otherwise overwhelming male-dominated. Although I am no longer much of a racing fan, it really disappoints me to see Patrick in the GoDaddy commercials. To me, she was a symbol of empowered womanhood, but now seeing her reduced to a ditzy sexkitten actress in the ads is really frustrating.
Here's an example of a particularly exasperating GoDaddy commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdaB21E2tY
The portrayal of women as inferior and/or unintelligent in advertisements is far too common, and this is just one company that particularly ignites my anger. And the fact that we have to be exposed to ridiculous stuff like this every day just isn't fair.
I've always wondered why there are sooo many half naked promotional women and no half naked promotional men. Society is not even fair in their exploitation of the sexes. smh.
ReplyDeleteWow that commercial was kind of uncomfortable to watch as well, I felt like it had nothing to do with the subject matter and was jus rough in general. THe only point of that commercial was a woman awkwardly dancing, I can't believe that this is okay.
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