From Web Host Industry Review:
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- A 30-second, user-generated commercial, which features a mom who creates a website with web host and domain registrar Go Daddy (www.godaddy.com) in order to save time and still keep in touch with her family, won top-spot in Go Daddy's user-generated commercial contest.
During Sunday's Indianapolis 500 broadcast, "Go Momma" was broadcast as Go Daddy's $100,000 winning commercial. Go Daddy's press release notes that the commercial, which stars a non-tech-savvy woman posting her cherished family recipes on her website, is surprisingly "cleavage-free," which marks a new direction for the company known for its advertising approach that involves gratuitous sex appeal.
"The whole idea of our contest was to have fun and see how creative the Internet community could be with the Go Daddy story -- and the entries literally blew us away!" Go Daddy CEO and founder Bob Parsons said in a statement. "We received some fantastic commercials and had so many outstanding entries, we ended up adding five Honorable Mention winners late in the contest."
As part of a social media contest aimed at generating creative content, Go Daddy invited the public starting in February to create their own Go Daddy commercial for a chance to win the top prize of $100,000 in cash, and $50,000 for second and $25,000 for third place winners. Since its launch, the contest has drawn more than 500 entries. And while some of the 10 finalist videos attempted Go Daddy's somewhat low-brow brand of advertising that it features every year in its Super Bowl commercials, many actually do a good job of explaining web hosting and domain registration.
Domain Name Wire's Andrew Allemann noted that Go Daddy's contest submissions challenged his expectation that contest entrants would follow GoDaddy's rote script. "Sure, most of the finalist commercials use some sort of sex appeal, but the majority of the message is on how Go Daddy can help you get online," he wrote. "The visuals actually make you pay attention to the idea of getting a web site, rather than just hearing Danica Patrick mention SSL certificates. (Reminds me of when Michael Jordan did those Rayovac commercials back in the day. Not very believable.)" Go Momma, in fact, was one of the videos Allemann hoped would win.
Second prize went to an ad titled "Finger Fighting." The commercial, shot on-location in Ariz., tells a 'rags-to-riches' story about a blue-collar everyman who creates an e-commerce website and becomes a millionaire. Jae Staats and his crew earned $50,000 for the runner-up title.
Third prize paid $25,000 and went to "Get Online Rap," which featured an original rap song about using the Internet to boost a business.
Five Honorable Mention winners will receive $15,000, raising the prize winnings to $250,000, which makes Go Daddy's "Create Your Own Commercial" contest the highest guaranteed payout of any commercial contest in advertising history.
By turning over the production of its videos to its users, Go Daddy seemed to uncover how its customers actually use its services. Go Daddy is widely known in the US market for its commercials, yet these commercials don't necessarily do a good job of clarifying what Go Daddy really offers. The user-generated videos generally relay the core ideas about buying a domain, building a website, and creating an online brand, all while maintaining a sense of humor. These videos seem to place a higher premium on functionality than Go Daddy's predictable gimmicks.
When it came to picking the winners, Parsons invited Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick to help judge, then used the Go Daddy-sponsored Indy 500 broadcast as a stage to reveal the winning ads. Danica was driving the Go Daddy #7 car for Andretti Autosport in the legendary Indy 500 today as the contest winners were aired on national television. "I was very impressed with what these people were able to do with an idea and a video camera," Danica said after judging the contest. "People really do seem to understand the key to Go Daddy's success too -- making it easy and affordable to create a website."
Go Momma was also reportedly aired again during the Stanley Cup Playoff Finals game Monday night, and on ESPN's SportsCenter.
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