This will be my last blog post for 2007. Even though the year is winding down, there’s news on just about all fronts.

The best laid plans...
In my last post, I wrote that Go Daddy would not produce our Super Bowl ad until we had a story board approved by the FOX Standards & Practices Group. It seemed like a good plan and we certainly had good intentions. But, you know the old saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. “ So far we’ve submitted 5 concepts to FOX and each one of them has been rejected.

So, we still don't have an ad approved.
Unfortunately, we had already scheduled our celebrity talent, production crews, sets, etc. for last week in Los Angeles. This left us with no choice. So we are back — once again — to producing ads that have not been approved. There’s no doubt, the next month will be interesting indeed.

See candid shots of our Super Bowl shoot.
When we filmed the last of our potential Super Bowl spots, a crew from Fox Business Channel was on site. CLICK HERE TO SEE FOOTAGE taken during the shoot and my related interview on the TV network.

I am sworn to secrecy about the content of the ads. I can say, however, they are GoDaddyEsque in every sense of the word and if we get one approved, you won’t be disappointed.

The Most Recalled ad of 2007?
IAG, a firm that measures advertising effectiveness, named Go Daddy's 2007 Super Bowl ad as the Most Recalled commercial of 2007.. Keep in mind, the 2007 commercial was produced on a low budget, was done entirely in-house by the Go Daddy Productions Staff and according to IAG, our commercial out performed every other ad produced by every other company or organization during 2007. Just for fun throw in the fact Go Daddy’s CEO – yours truly – is an ex-Marine who failed the 5th grade, and came whisker close to not graduating from high school. Not too shabby, eh?

One of the best places to work.
The Phoenix Business Journal recognized Go Daddy as one of the Valley’s very Best Places to Work. Each year they look at many firms and compare fringes, benefits, employee morale, confidentially survey employees, etc... Then they publish a list of firms which they determine are the very best places to work in the Valley. To all of this, the Scottsdale Republic noted that we also throw a pretty good employee holiday party.

Go Daddy does NASCAR.
But wait there’s more. On Monday we announced Go Daddy is going to be a NASCAR sponsor and that we joined the Hendrick Motorsports’ team. There’s going to be a Go Daddy #5 NASCAR in the Nationwide Series. It was designed personally by none other than Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is the sport's most popular driver. The Go Daddy #5 car will be driven twice by Dale Jr., three times by Mark Martin and once by Ron Fellows. During the rest of the races Go Daddy will be an associate sponsor of the HMS team.

A big year for charity.
On the philanthropic front, Go Daddy – as it always does – stepped up to help out in just about every quarter. Our charitable donations for the year amounted to $1.4 million dollars. We helped organizations that are dedicated to alleviating the suffering due to domestic violence, child abuse, unwed young mothers and the plight of the homelessness. We’ve also helped combat diseases like Parkinson’s disease and Juvenile Diabetes. And, as we did last year, we played a big part in raising funds for the Arizona Humane Society to help prevent cruelty to animals.

We also helped out with key legislation.
On the legislative front we were able to help in getting some key child protection legislation passed. There were seven different bills we had a hand in. In short these bills provide increased sentences for violators who engage in acts that are harmful to children, require Internet Service Providers to report Child Pornography and other predatory acts to the appropriate authorities, and funding for additional law enforcement to pursue crimes against children online. We also worked to help extend the moratorium on Internet taxation another 5 years.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday.
That’s about it. It’s important you know all of us at Go Daddy are pleased and proud to say you’re our customer. It’s your support that enables us to do what we do. We will never lose sight of that. We wish you a very heartfelt safe and wonderful holiday season. Finally, each year our creative staff prepares a special holiday card for our customers and friends. To see this year's card please click here.

Until next time.