Update: GoDaddy Will NOT Air Controversial Super Bowl Ad

According to a tweet from GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving, GoDaddy will not air the Super Bowl commercial that had widely been criticized today. The tweet sent by Irving was in response to a critical comment made by the Twitter account that appears to be affiliated with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for Monterey County.

Incidentally, there was a petition on Change.org seeking to have GoDaddy “Remove the Super Bowl 2015 Commercial.” There are nearly 25,000 virtual signatures at the time of publication, and I imagine this number will grow.

The commercial in question is called Journey Home, and it was reported to be GoDaddy’s 2015 Super Bowl ad. From what I saw, there was a major social media backlash to this advertisement, which “starred” a Golden Retriever named Buddy. Additionally, several news outlets published articles about the commercial, and there were many negative comments left there, too.

I presume GoDaddy will still air a Superbowl commercial, but it remains to be seen what commercial the company will show. I would guess they had other versions, perhaps with different endings. In the past, GoDaddy would submit versions of their Super Bowl commercial that were rejected / banned by the network, and they used that to their advantage to drive viewers online. I highly doubt that was the case this time.

My bet is that GoDaddy is prepared and will have something ready when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday. I guess this is a good reason for posting a commercial online ahead of time to gauge consumer reaction.

I am glad to see that the company is canning this commercial, and I hope they have a Buddy commercial with a positive and happy ending in the can.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
  1. That is GREAT news!!! If they had used it for a no-kill shelter or rescue promoting their website for an animal ADOPTION and show the process of the animal finding a forever home and NOT do a commercial where they have dogs in the back of a truck, then to be thrown from it by mistake and going through all that to get home only to be sold online and then “shipped” off, they would have a hit!

  2. Good news! The doggie worked hard finding its way home only to be sold and shipped. Not a good message for sure! Thank you for pulling the ad!

  3. I remember the SPCA denounced the reinstatement of Michael Vick, a very low key statement for a guy who used water, jumper cables and a battery to electrocute dogs, torturing and beating dogs beyond belief, I would have expected more from the SPCA, like protesting outside the NFL building… And here the SPCA is going after Godaddy over a dog commercial which is in fact FICTION, FAKE, NOT REAL, THE DOG IS OK, NOT SHIPPED OFF!

    What’s next SPCA? revisit all the sad endings of “Lassie”?

  4. Sad situation when you have liberals screaming over a commercial about a dog but fight for the right to kill real babies before they are born.

    When you fight for the rights of a human being first, talk to me about an animal.

  5. To all you Kim jong un’s out there this is a commercial and is Make Believe! (Not Real)! Not Animals were actually harmed in this commercial! Please concentrate on the people out there that actually do abuse innocent animals!

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