How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy • Hacker News Board

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#101

Post by knofun » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:07 PM UTC

I don't think this will have any tangible effect on GoDaddy's brand except for maybe a slight increase in visibility via the free press you are giving them right this second.

As far as actually shooting the animal, I'm not an African game warden so I can't give any scientific or even remotely educated comment. That being said, the only facts I know are these: Bob Parsons shot and killed an elephant in a completely legal way, and was so proud of what he did that he had a professional make and edit a video which he then posted on the internet. The people in the video seem grateful and excited that he has done this. They are also wearing godaddy hats. This morning, a lot of people who weren't there are passing judgement.

I guess I'm just confused as to the source of the controversy?

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#102

Post by d2 » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:11 PM UTC

What I find most distasteful is the lie that he "saved a village and fed them". That's just bullshit.

There are more guns in Zimbabwe than most other parts of Africa. If the locals really wanted that elephant gone, it would have been machine gunned by two guys arriving on foot.

What really happened here is that a hunting party arrived, killed an elephant and left the carcass for the locals to eat.

What a hero.

PS: I spent my childhood and early 20's in South Africa and we hate this great-white-hunter tourist shit, but it sure pays the bills if you're the driver guide or booking agent.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#103

Post by fistofjohnwayne » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:11 PM UTC

c2 wrote: post #50

I guess I'll be the lone discenting voice and say I don't think it's that bad. Bob Parsons has always run his company the way he wants, and he has particular freedom to do so since he has zero investors and is the sole owner. He does certain things for shock value, such as the super bowl commercials, which by the way caused outage with a completely different demographic of people. Slaughtering an elephant might offen…

>I can understand how this might offend vegetarians but even then, it's not like the animal was wasted.

I think you're confusing vegetarians with people who dig frugality.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#104

Post by powertower » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:11 PM UTC

Let's see who this outrage is coming from:

1) Someone who has never gone hungry for a single day in his/her life.

2) Someone who has consumed 100s of chickens, many cattle, and many other animals so far... Most of which have been literally tortured all their lives.

3) Someone who has never gone to Africa to help, but sits around all day posting his/her opinion on how things there (and everywhere else in the world) should be done.

I'll give you a secret. Want to change the world? Change yourself. It's the only way. Stop complaining. Stop finger pointing. Stop exerting yourself on others.

But yes... I do agree that it would have been best for GoDaddy to not post this.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#105

Post by VladRussian » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:14 PM UTC

shanked wrote: post #59

maukdaddy wrote: post #3

What a truly awful stunt & person. How can he even live with himself for this?

I think that attitude is a bit harsh. Does it make him a bad person? I disagree. While I can't imagine doing such things, I understand that people have vastly different values regarding many topics and aren't trying to be evil regardless of how opposed the values are to others. I agree that in this particular case its a bad move to release this publicly because he is a leader of a major company and shouldn't invite s…

>Does it make him a bad person?

yes. While i think all killers are bad persons, i see how a necessary killing may be up for debate. Jumping at the first chance to kill and doing it willingfully indicates that the person is a moral trash.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#106

Post by namityadav » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:16 PM UTC

locopati wrote: post #37

So, to recap: sexist advertising campaigns for the benefit of the entire company == OK; the CEO shooting an elephant == boycott. To be clear, I'm in no way agreeing with his actions, but it was getting fed up with the advertising that got me to dump GoDaddy for DynDNS long before anything like this occurred.

Umm -- YES! Sexist advertising campaign = Silly, but I am not going to choose or drop a registrar based on that. CEO shooting an innocent animal = A company that I don't want to do business with.

You aren't trying to say that showing some scantily clad women is equivalent to killing, are you?

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#107

Post by PonyGumbo » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:16 PM UTC

rriepe wrote: post #23

I don't agree with GoDaddy's lowest common denominator branding strategy, but it seems to have served them well over the years. It's hard to argue with results. Make no mistake though, this is just as much a part of their branding strategy as their stupid, tasteless Super Bowl commercials. They'll probably make a token PR apology to hedge their bets here, but this reinforces their "brand" more than it damages it.

Ultimately, this is why I'm looking for another registrar. How can I reasonably recommend them to clients? The first thing you see on their site is a photo of a girl in a tight t-shirt, and text at the bottom that says "Aligators nipping at your ass? How to hang in there & enjoy the ride. PLUS a smoking hot crazy blond." It's ridiculous.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#108

Post by jaysonelliot » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:16 PM UTC

I have thirty domains registered with GoDaddy. I'm taking all of them somewhere else now - just need to figure out who the best competitor to go to is.

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#109

Post by adolph » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:17 PM UTC

randallsquared wrote: post #98

cshenoy wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I respect your opinions in support of Parsons, I'm going to have to disagree with you on a lot of your arguments. >Bob Parsons has always run his company the way he wants, and he has particular freedom to do so since he has zero investors and is the sole owner Parsons does have the freedom to do what he likes but there are consequences to those actions. No one is questioning his freedom to do what he chooses. >…

Both can be equally demeaning and morally questionable to certain parts of the population but let's be real here, killing an "innocent animal" is much more controversial than what is shown on TV almost every night. In a culture where steakhouses dot the roadsides, it seems odd to assert that killing an "innocent animal" is controversial at all. In some US locality where vegetarians make up the vast majority of the po…

Dumbo = innocent;

Elsie = delicious;

Re: How to damage your brand in one smooth shot - Way to GoDaddy

#110

Post by nhangen » Thu, Mar 31, 2011, 7:18 PM UTC

fistofjohnwayne wrote: post #103

c2 wrote: post #50

I guess I'll be the lone discenting voice and say I don't think it's that bad. Bob Parsons has always run his company the way he wants, and he has particular freedom to do so since he has zero investors and is the sole owner. He does certain things for shock value, such as the super bowl commercials, which by the way caused outage with a completely different demographic of people. Slaughtering an elephant might offen…

>I can understand how this might offend vegetarians but even then, it's not like the animal was wasted. I think you're confusing vegetarians with people who dig frugality.

Exactly. Vegetarians have problems with killing...period.