Posted by Becky @ 4:43 pm Super Bowl with the Obamas and us
February 2, 2009 | Advertising, Barack Obama, Ethics, Family, Goon Squad Sarah, Internet, Media, PR, Parenting, Politics, Statistics, Television
I have a few things in common with President Barack Obama and his family (aside from the whole “leader of the free world” thing). He’s just a few year older than I am. He’s been happily married for 16 years. So have I. He has two beautiful daughters. So do I. They had a Super Bowl party yesterday. So did we, though on a much smaller — and less bipartisan — scale.
I wonder if Malia and Sasha had their 3D glasses too.
Did they see the Go Daddy commercial with Danica Patrick? And how did that go?
Maybe the conversation at the White House went something like this.
“Go Daddy? Hey, that’s what we said when you were running for president, Daddy!”
“Hey, Daddy? Why are those boys watching that girl take a shower?”
Did they see the other Go Daddy commercial with Danica Patrick?
“Enhanced? Hey, Daddy, what are they talking about?”
“Daddy? Why is that girl taking off her shirt?”
The Nielsen Company says in its Super Bowl guide that 37.7 million women are National Football League fans. That’s 42 percent of the viewing audience. I wonder how many children regularly watch NFL games.
I know a lot of women who like sports. Sarah covers sports for BlogHer and has her own sports blog. She even wrote about misogyny in sports media.
So I wonder …
How do women football fans reconcile the game and all the “Go Daddy” stuff that comes with it? Or do you? Does it just come with the territory, even though you’re almost half the viewing (and spending) audience?
How would you answer the questions I imagined Obama’s daughters might have asked? What would you tell your sons?
How about fathers who are football fans?
Posted by Becky @ 4:43 pm 
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I won’t watch. Sorry. But I get the idea. One of the challenges of branding any business these days is the fragmented micro niche audiences that are being identified and then marketed to.
One of the opportunities with this approach is that businesses can tightly identify their brand benefits to a very tightly focused market. This can really enhance sales within a defined niche.
The problem comes about when businesses that hold appeal to a broader marketplace define their marketing message more narrowly - whether in the case of Go Daddy, to generate word of mouth buzz - or whether to just paint a clearer picture for the niche market.
In some cases, the marketing will be offensive to other niches within the larger marketplace.
In 2009, being offensive to a small group of people has serious risks because the democratization of the media and the two-way nature of marketing means the audience has a voice.
Make a statement with your brand that is too bold and run the risk of a rising tide of voices drowning out your own.
It’s a fine line….. and Go Daddy seems to be tiptoeing down the high wire.
Glad I don’t have to explain the content of this years commercials or share the viewing space with others who would be equally as uncomfortable watching as I, at least from what is alluded to in the stories I’m hearing.
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:48 am
I have HUGE problem with it. I have huge problems with Danica Patrick ruining it for the rest of us. It is as if she is trying to prove that even if we can drive race cars as well as men we should still be viewed as sexual objects.
I also have an issue with the sports blogs. The best ones out there have pictures of women in lingerie at least twice a week. As a woman sports fan I find it frustrating.
February 4th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Yeah, Danica Patrick, why did you have to go and ruin it? I used to admire her. The ads were offensive to so many people.