Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you are aware of the fiasco surrounding the O.J. Simpson “If I Did It” tell all, where he was going to tell how he might have committed, or actually did commit — you decide which — the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.

It was going to be the media event of the year.
The “tell all” was to come to us in the form of a book and two one-hour shows on the Fox television network. Since news about the whole thing leaked to the press in early November, it immediately became a major media event. All the old characters from the investigation and trial emerged once again and were on just about every news hour and talk show. Some people have expressed interest, others outrage. Regardless of how people felt – everyone seemed to have something to say.

There was no doubt in my mind, that regardless of what you might think about the whole ordeal, the O.J. “If I Did It” show on Fox was going to be one of the most-watched shows of the year – maybe even the century.

But Rupert got cold feet.
And then the unbelievable happened. Rupert Murdoch, a man known for taking advantage of controversy whenever a dollar presented itself, somehow suddenly found morality and decided it was necessary to distance himself from O.J. So O.J.'s “If I Did It” show was cancelled.

Was it really about morals?
It seems Mr. Murdoch’s new found morality might have been based, in part, on the realization that Fox was having difficulty finding sponsors to step up and pay for the huge audience he was hoping to garner with the O.J. tell all. So it seems the next best thing for one to have, if you can’t have huge ad revenues, is of course new found morality.

And of course, I was dragged into the fray.
This brings me to Me. When asked about not finding advertisers, one media watch dog reported that Fox executives said “It would take a company like GoDaddy.com that seemingly doesn’t care about content” to advertise on a show like "If I Did It."

It was just a cheap shot.
I have to admit I was taken by surprise when the Fox executives pulled GoDaddy’s name into the middle of all of this. I wasn’t even invited to be an advertiser. I suspect Fox might still have hard feelings over the black eye they took when they cancelled the second showing of my 2005 Super Bowl commercial.

But, would I have done it?
After sitting back and taking this all in, I got to thinking. I asked myself, “If I had an opportunity to advertise during the O.J. tell all, and – my old buddy Rupert made the money right – would I have done it?”

And then, if I did it, how would I have done it? Hmmmmm.

I'd have to write off Bill O'Reilly.
First, Bill O’Reilly made it clear that he would never ever buy anything from any company that advertises during the show. But he doesn’t buy anything from me now, and from the looks of things, I’m not counting on anything from him in the future. So nothing lost there.

We'd be talking a really big audience.
Next, you have to believe there would be an awful lot of eyes watching that show. Heck, it could even be more than the Super Bowl. Americans (and Canadians also I suppose) are that way. We might not like to admit it, but the vast majority of us like to watch those types of things. So chalk one up in the plus column.

The rates would be low.
The event is basically “the confession of a murder.” This is not exactly an upbeat occasion. So the price to advertisers would certainly have to take that into consideration. On one hand, you have a low price. On the other, an association with a pretty dark event. I personally consider this a push. If the decrease in price is low enough, one offsets the other.

There's really no such thing as bad publicity.
Finally, there would have been all sorts of talk about companies who advertised during the event. And a contingent of people who would have become upset with the advertisers. I’ve come to know these people. While they are very vocal, they are also a tiny minority. Most of this tiny vocal minority either won't be doing business with you (even though they say they are ), or — if they are — won't follow through on their threats to move their business. The silent majority will remember the advertisers, and understanding that business is business, not hold it against them.

So, would I have done it?
Would I have advertised during the O.J. tell all? My decision could have went either way. Quite frankly, it would have depended on the deal.

Here's how I would have done it.
Now, let's assume the deal was right and I signed on as an advertiser. How would I have done it? As much as I like my GoDaddy Girl TV ads, I don’t think this would be a time for her to appear. The O.J. tell all really isn’t a coast-to-coast day of celebration like the Super Bowl. Instead, it’s the recounting of a tragic event. So my ad would need to take that into account.

This ad would be different.
My ad would talk about the various public service initiatives that GoDaddy participates in each and every day. Like the help we provide to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, how we work with law enforcement in shutting down child pornography whenever we find it, how we help several local domestic violence centers, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, a hotline for teenage suicide prevention and a rescue shelter for homeless teenagers and on and on.

Quite often we're about just "being there."
My ad would show that for GoDaddy, it isn’t at all solely about the money. Quite often it’s about being there to help out. The O.J. tell all would have provided a good venue for us to tell that story. That’s what I would have done. And why I would have done it.

Until next time.