Communication, ethics, and society

Analysis of Controversial Advertisements College Analysis of Controversial Advertisements When considering desensitization in society, the one advertisement that is controversial is one by Go Daddy and it aired during the Super Bowl http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= 9nvpD_eQgTo&feature= player_embedded. This advertisement promoted Go Daddy’s dot com business by showing off women and portraying them as sex symbols. The worst part is that it shows a man in a suit and tie at work and he opened an office door to see an office full of women, hardly wearing any clothes and men in the office are judging them with score cards. It implies that sexism in the workplace is okay as well as using women as selling sex symbols.
According to Forbes, in the last few years, GoDaddy. com has been a target for several unethical practices. One issue was when a CEO killed a wild elephant in Africa in 2011. Again, in 2011, GoDaddy underwent scrutiny by offering support for SOPA which was an example of people not being able to exercise a freedom of speech or what they wanted to do while online. GoDaddy pulled its support because people were going to boycott the company (Clay, K. 2012).
The advertisement was simply controversial because it portrayed women as sex symbols, showing them partying in the workplace. It was an issue of sexism and since it was shown during the Super Bowl, it was a direct attempt at men that is the general demographic of people that watch football. Instead of offering an intelligent response, the company still maintains to show sexism in their ads, with one of their sexiest ads ever to appear during the 2013 Super Bowl where a “ hot” model was in a deep lip lock with a nerdy man. This advertisement increased sales for GoDaddy. com tremendously (Huffington Post, 2013). It was uncomfortable to watch and still continued to use women as sexual objects that could use control over men to get what they want. In my opinion, viewers ignore it and find it humorous though the underlying message is disgusting. GoDaddy has not learned its lesson at all and seem proud to offend others. The public is desensitized to seeing women as sex symbols and it is a role that is reinforced through other companies such as Victoria’s Secret and Hooters. Feminists should be livid over these companies that use these examples and though Victoria’s Secret is geared at women to buy lingerie, every single one of these examples should issue an apology to women everywhere for depicting them as “ objects.”
Works Cited
Clay, K. (2012) 5 reasons you should leave GoDaddy and how. Forbes. com. Retrieved from
http://www. forbes. com/sites/kellyclay/2012/09/10/5-reasons-you-should-leave-godaddy- and-how/.
GoDaddy Super Bowl nerd kiss ad boosts company to biggest sales day ever: Report. (2013,
Feb. 5) The Huffington Post, Inc. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com
/2013/ 02/05/go-daddy-super-bowl-nerd-kiss-ad-biggest-sales-day-
ever_n_2623541. html
Shipp, B. (2007, Feb. 4) Go Daddy Super Bowl ad. Retrieved from
http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= 9nvpD_eQgTo&feature= player_embedded
.